The memoirs of Hera
by Aurora Spirit
Summary: COMPLETE the final Chapter 35: Going home Through political intrigues and turmol Hera is given a chanse to start a new life together with her beloved Zeus
1. How to begin a story

_**The memoirs of Hera** is a work of fiction based very freely on the Greek mythology. It's about the early years in the life of the goddess Hera, how she met the other gods including Zeus and what happened to her before she became part of the Olympos. The tale takes place in a kind of parallel universe not much unlike our own, and the backdrop is a kind of fantasy 19:th century, giving the story a steam-punk ambience with primitive computers and old-style steam-trains._

_I've taken the liberty and made a lot of changes, like rooting up Olympic family trees and incorporating my own characters as well as gods and goddesses from other mythologies. The city of Ekarantanni is my own creations as well as the geography on the Central Continent. _

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**The memoirs of Hera **

**How to begin a story **

- Run, Hera, Run, my father urged me and pushed me into the back with his right hand, pointing in the general direction of the forest where the setting sun was already painting the tree tops in an orange colour. Beyond the woodlands lay the blue, snow-capped mountains, and beyond them places I didn't know.

- But dad... what about you?  
- I'll do al right. I'll stay here, stopping the Titans from finding you, getting you. And I'll finally get revenge over Aningari, my beloved. Your mother.  
- But they're gonna kill you for sure! Let me stay and fight...  
- And die too? That would be such a waste. You're so young, Hera! You must go on. Live. A new life is waiting for you beyond those mountains. Adventures! Honour! Love! Children! Dreams come true! Don't sacrifice them to stay here with me when I go down.

- Dad! I love you!  
- I love you to Hera-kitten! Now please run! Get out of here before the Titans come!

I obeyed him this time, left the little town of Reldigon, where my dad was a minor, protecting god, and took off into the woods. Into the unknown. Into hopes and fears. I didn't turn back, and that was the last time I saw him...


	2. Hera on the run

**Hera on the run**

A 15 year old on the run. That sounds like something you hear on the news all the time. And most of the times these girls come back home or are found dead in a lake or something.

Not Hera. I was a proud and stubborn survivor even back them. I ran and ran while night embraced me from ahead. I ran, didn't bother with the trees whipping me in my face with their twigs or having roots which were trying to make me stumble and fall.

I ran, tears wetting my cheeks, knowing that my beloved father was dying behind me. Dying to give me a chance to live.

I ran, I was giving him this last gift. By running not letting his sacrifice be pointless.

I ran, levitating over the misty swamplands where foul smells and strange sounds would have scared a braver but less desperate girl.

I ran, subconsciously noting that the land was beginning to slope upwards. I was nearing the mountains.

I ran, until I came to the railroad, and then I turned direction, started to follow the northbound tracks. To Argos. To safety among thousands of mortals, where an immortal teen could hide from the Titans.

After some kilometres I heard the high-pitched sound of the train whistle. Then the steady beat of the steaming engine. I concentrated, picked up speed, and when the train passed I jumped in the air, grabbed a handle to a door on one of the coaches. I didn't enter the coach though, but climbed up on the roof, getting myself a free ride to Argos.

These days Argos has a reputation as a trade- and knowledge city, and its breathtaking architecture is well renowned all over the world. But back then Argos was nothing more than the port town, with oppressed harbour workers who toiled 15 hours a day 7 days a week. In the times of Chronos labourer's liberation was unheard of. His military police, the Chronites, was merciless when it came to beating down strikes and uprisings.

I didn't stay long in Argos though. It was too depressing. (Today it's one of my favourite cities - amazing how things can change!) I went on further east. I passed through places like Xanetakar and Trikalia. Saw the terrible things the Chronites did to decent human beings as well as wonderful things like the Valley of Butterflies and the Anayaka falls. I meet some great people as well as crooks.

I also found that men considered me beautyful. That was hard to understand back then. I saw myself as too tall and skinny and with too big, too dark eyes compared to my pale skin. And always that sulky, tired and depressed look. On top of that I seldom got the chanse to do something reasonable with my hair. I just left it tied up in a knot and cut it myself when it became too long. Not to mention that I knew nothing about make-up and clothes at that time. I could not understand what kind of men would turn their heads after a girl like Runaway Hera.

Then I learned that there was other people like me out there. Other immortals. And why they really had to hide away from Chronos and his police.

It turned out that Chronos the Titan had got a prophecy that he was going to be dethroned by an immortal member of the new race. And thus the Chronites did all they could to catch all the immortals and finish them off. It was only pure luck that I didn't get caught when I was hiking through the continent with that careless attitude I had. But I guess no-one believed that a girl in rags who took odd jobs in cafés and warehouses and had a heavy Western accent really was an immortal.

Until Hestia found me that was.

I had arrived in the city of Katakeria on a gloomy Secondday morning. I had been a stowaway on a train from Ganessar, a town I fled after setting a guy on fire because he wanted to rape me. That was indeed sad, because I had had a decent job in a bar in the town. A faked ID proved me to be 18 and able to take jobs in bars. And I also had a good friend in a girl called Eula. My first really good friend who let me stay with her in spite of her boyfriend's dislike for me.

But after turning a man into a torch you don't hang on. So off I went. And Katakeria it became only because it was the destination for the first train leaving Ganessar.

At that time Katakeria was only a small town among the mountains in the south-western part of Arcadia, not like the bustling city it is today. What I mostly remember was the huge statue of Chronos in the middle of the square with the same name as the dictator. (When that statue was removed they put up an even greater Zeus statue instead, although it can't rival the Ekarantanni landmark.) It was wet with rain and so were the Chronites who kept on exercising beneath the statue.

- You don't really wanna stand around here watching these, someone was suddenly saying behind me. I turned around and looked straight into a pair of breathtaking green eyes beneath a leather hood. The woman these eyes belonged to was even taller than me. And I was already almost 175 cm.  
- Why not? I asked. I don't really have anything else to do.  
- It might be the last thing you do if they stop playing around with their rifles and start paying attention to the spectators instead. Greeneye indicated to the handful of other people hiding from the rain among the trees.

- Why should it? I said. I have done nothing wrong. Setting a guy on fire, I though, but that was more than 500 kilometres from here.   
- You're alive, that's enough for them, Greeneye answered.  
- Gimme a break!  
- No I'm not, you can't be unaware of the fact that the Chronites are finishing off immortals. And have been doing for the last 50 years or so.  
- Well I'm not immortal, so why should I care?

- Don't gimme that bull! I know an immortal when I see one. You aura gives you away, girl. Shines like a beacon in the winter night! Greeneye said. She started to scream the word "Don't" before getting hold on herself and went on in a quiet, but still agitated voice.  
- All right! My dad died saving my life. He was a patron deity of this tiny town where I grew up. But I intend to stay alive, hiding among the mortals.

- That's no easy deed, the Titans can spot you almost as well as one of your own. You've better come with me, we can't stay here.

I turned to follow the goddess' eyes and found myself looking into the piercing stare of a bearded old man with the reddish doughlike skin of someone who drinks too much. I have never been telepathic, but I got the certain understanding that he was planning on turning Greeneye and me in to the Chronites in exchange for some money.

The next second Greeneye had taken my hand and dragged me away from the square and into an alley. After several turns (I lost count after half of them), a climb over two fences and a trek through a water-filled trench we reached some kind of catacombs. Greeneye didn't hesitate when she dragged me inside the dark and started ahead down a spiralling staircase. And suddenly she was holding an eerie greenish light in her hand. Not a torch or a lamp, just something like a shining plasma ball. It scared me to say the least. This whole, intense woman scared me.

- Where the Chaos are you taking me? I asked over my breath. Greeneye had been starting to move really fast since we arrived in the catacombs. I was fast myself all right, but compared to this woman I was nothing.  
- Saving your life, girlie, was the short answer I got. Then she didn't say anything through the rest of the stairs, a walk trough narrow, damp corridors and down another flight of stairs.

And suddenly there was a door opening up in front of us.  
- Where you been, Hestia? I heard a husky male voice whispering.   
- I found the girl.   
- The one Akita sensed?   
- The very one. Let us in Oroaro! I was this close to loosing her to the Chron-cops.

The man, Oroaro, opened up the door and let in me and Greeneye a.k.a. Hestia. And less than five minutes later I had been liberated from my wet clothes, given a warm and thick woollen tunic and was sitting opposite Hestia, Oroaro and a second man drinking heated nectar. (I didn't know nectar by then, nor the amazing effects it has on immortal abilities. The caffeine and ginseng mortals drink can't even start to be compared to these incredible mind-enhancing beverages.)

- So you guys are... gods? I asked, facing the trio.  
- We're immortals, said Hestia. God or goddess is more a - "profession" - as in an immortal guarding a part of the society like a geographic area, a trade or a sub-culture. We're nothing like that now. In fact there are not many of these deities left. They have either been killed by the Chron-cops or ran away into hiding. Or - like us - fighting the oppression.

- Welcome to the Order of Blue Gold, said Oroaro. He was a massively built black man with a shaven head except for half a dozen diminutive and pearled braids on his forehead.  
- The what?  
- The Order of Blue Gold, or the resistance movement against Chronos.

- Cool, I said before realising how stupid that very word must have sounded in the ears of these three hardened immortal fighters. So, is there a special reason for me to be here then?   
- Not more or less special than for all other immortals we recruit, said Hestia and drank from her cup. There was a strange strenght radiating from her now that made me almost dizzy.

- And who are? I heard myself saying. The warmth and the mind expanding of the nectar was starting to take effect on me. And the first reaction was a serie of pictures in my head. In a moment I learned the nature of this resistance. I saw how it had all started on the faraway island of Crete less than three years ago, and about the amazingly charismating man leading these forces of immortals. Zeus.

- Is this Zeus... Is he really thinking he can conquer... I mean overthrowing Chronos? I asked when the "film" in my head had stopped.  
- He's not only thinking it, said the other man. He knows it!

I had learned his name the same way I got all the other information. Kaoran. He was atlethic, with black curly hair and a stern and dangerous look upon his face. He was over average good looking in that way I soon found all immortals to be, even if it's an exaggeration to call all of us beautiful. But the "mark of beauty" might come with the youthfulness. If you continue to look like being 20 all your life I guess you might be considered beautiful in the eyes of an ageing mortal.

- But Zeus's gonna need all help he can get, Kaoran went on, while pouring more nectar. There are not that many immortals left. The Chron-cops have killed them all off. Ironic! They call us immortals, but that's because we're not ageing. And we're of stronger material than the rest. But not really unable to kill. The Chron-cops know how to do it. So Hera, he asked. Are you in or are you out?   
- I'm in, I said.

I had been looking for a job when I came to Katakeria. And apparently I had found one.


	3. The Order of Blue Gold

**The Order of Blue Gold **

The sisters and brothers of the Order of Blue Gold didn't waste a minute of their precious time. Already the same day my training started. I learned all kinds of martial art. (And I found I had a previously unknown skill for kicking people in the guts.) I learned to handle guns and swords, to drive the primitive automobiles of these days as well as reading maps, climbing up things, hiding, spying, running for cover, camouflaging myself and other useful skills.

Not to mention learning to fully use all my immortal abilities, like levitation, mindspeak, shape-changing, self-healing and similar things. Including this powerful pyrotechnic ability that had spooked me all my life. And over the next few months Hera was turned into a war-machine of a kind mortals only see in movies or computer games these days.

I remember the first time Hestia and I teamed up together. Our goal was to chase down some Chron-asses and liberate an immortal child. I clearly recall the powerful feeling of being able to jump from rooftop to rooftop, running up vertical walls and spinning throughout the air, while fighting off a whole contingent of Chronites with one sword in each hand. Just as Hestia did I preferred the sword to the firearms. Swords never ran out of ammo. And if you were fast enough you could use the blade to deflect bullets.

When the Chron-asses were all finished Hestia and I made usselves invisible, by thwarting the surrounding peoples brains into not registrating our appearances while we ran through the streets of Titanopolis - or Mychenae as it's called today - Hestia carrying the little terrified nine-year-old goddess Eos. For the first time in my life I really felt like being an immortal. But Hestia had to tell me to not let that feeling overpower me.  
- I have lost so many Warbrothers and -sisters that way. They feel the surge of power in their veins, and then they become careless. Don't ever make that mistake, Hera!

I guess that's the origin of the misconception that Zeus and I were brother and sister by the way. We in the Order of Blue Gold were soldiers back in that war – and as soldiers we called each other what can best be translated into Warsister and Warbrother. Words of comradeship. Words to help each other through the atrocities. But somehow that meaning got lost in translation over the years. So my brother in arms became a biological brother when the storytellers started to warp and transform things and wanted themselves to sound more interesting.

Zeus was a living legend even back then. Brave, strong, intelligent and most important of all - he had that inspiring charisma that urged us all into heroic deeds. Needless to say that I as well as all the other girls in the Order had some kind of crush on him. But I was a mere teenager and he was over 20 (ancient in my eyes) and he almost never saw us little girls.

I had been with the order for almost a year when I first met Zeus. We had been travelling from Katakeria and down south to Erandoro, as a part of the project of gathering the forces before setting off south-east and into Merioly to try to scare the tyrant out of his lair. It was a complicated move. We had to travel carefully and under cover, doing our very best to not avake the suspicion of Chronos' police or informers. The farther south we came the more the land became infested with those faithful to Chronos' leadership. It was not like up north where an immortal could still show herself and even find worshipers among the mortals.

South of the Kataker mountains the climate was warmer with shorter winters and humid and hot summers. Our tiny group was travelling under cover with fake certificates of birth. I was Juno Jaleeza from Tiryns, (I got so used to that alter-ego that I have been using it from time to time later) Hestia was Vesta Jaleeza and Kaoran, Oroaro, Acciran and Akita had other names I have forgotten today.

The idea was that we were a family with Hestia and Kaoran married, Akita, Acciran and I their children and Oroaro my husband. That was the only way to fit his skin pigmentation into the family scheme, but we did take that husband-wife thing rather literally. He became my first immortal lover and there sure was a difference!

In Latesummer Month we reached Erandoro, and Kaoran took us to a closed down factory where we met with some other people who were also part of the Order. The leader of that group was a woman named Anzoura, and they had also come from up north, but more to the west. Anzoura was higher ranked than Kaoran, and she had more information so she was the one who did all the talking.

- We are staying here tonight, she informed us. But this is not a safe place, so we should put up sentries, and I will ask you all to not venture out to sample food or other stuff. The only reason to leave this building would be a clear emergency-case. Tomorrow we will be given further information on where to proceed. We are to gather in an abandoned mine outside the city, but for security reasons I have not been given the location of it earlier. Anzoura went on talking about details, and then we formed a sentry-scedule before eating a simple dinner.

- How come Anzoura doesn't know the location of that mine? I asked Hestia during our meal. Hestia, who had been talking to a handsome man from the other team, looked up and met my eyes. She picked some fire from the candle and played with it, twisting the flame between her fingers. Earlier I had thought she did that stunt to show off, now I knew that it was a way to relax. Hestia's version of stress marbles.

- Security, Hera, she said. If Anzoura or some of her contingent would have been caught they would not have been able to reveal the location of the mine. Apparently that place is of important value to the order.  
- Can it be like - the headquarter?  
- No, I don't really think so. But maybe Demeter or some of the other generals awaits there.

I remembered what Hestia had told me about Demeter. A woman who was really a nature goddess, and who was a skilled warrior even if she resented the trade. She was one of the top generals in the Order, and I was excited in the prospect of meeting her. Not as much as in meeting Zeus, but I felt like that was something that would not happen until much later.

- So we are to gather in that mine? I asked. Tomorrow?  
- Yeah, tomorrow. Or maybe the day after, said the man Hestia had been talking to. He held out his hand over the table, light brown eyes glittering beneath a spiky brown fringe.  
- Hi, I'm Neario.  
- And I'm Hera.  
- Yeah, the flying girl. Your reputation has been running ahead of you.  
- Really? But I'm nothing special.

- That's not what the others have been saying. At least according to Anzoura you are the greatest asset of your contingent.  
- But Hestia is better than me, I said and nodded to my tall, blond friend. She is stronger and more experienced. And Kaoran, our leader is...  
- But no-one can jump and fly like you, Hera, Hestia said. Your precision is amazing. You are good already and you can become fantastic given time. You're probably going to be even better than Anzoura.

I found that hard to believe, but at the same time it warmed me from inside. And so did the interesting looks I was getting from Neario. I felt that warmness burning on my cheeks, so I masked my blushing with my cup of beer. (We were saving the Nectar for important times. That was not a meal beverage but something you used before going into battle, or to regain strength after the battle.)

- I hope I can be that good, I said. I'd love to make a difference in this war.  
- We all do, Neario said. A lot of us have lost family and friends in the war. I am the only one surviving from the Santori, a pantheon located at the island of Santorini. The Chronites blasted the whole island into the air, killing hundreds of innocent mortals, just to get us. And the tsunamis after the blast caused even more harm as far away as on the shores of Aigyptos. I only got away because I was off Santorini on that event, meeting up with the Order in an attempt to form an alliance against Chronos. After the act of terror against the Santori I joined the Order instead.

- Poor you! I held out a hand and put it on top of Neario's. He had tears in his large brown eyes and I felt the lack of appropriate words. I often did during those years of war. The language is not fit with dealing with these atrocities. When cruelties, blood and death become a part of your everyday life, the language fails to offer expressions for all you have to face. The terms_ Disaster_ and _Catastrophe_ feel less than enough.  
- How about Hestia's story then? Neario said. I stared blankly at the other two. I hadn't heard that.  
- She had to witness the Chronites kill her parents and older sister, and then she was taken off to be performed "experiments" on.

- Really? I met the gaze of my friend. She was also teary-eyed. I'm sorry I did not know.  
- It's too hard to talk about still, Hestia answered. Zeus and his at that time small band saved me from whatever the Chron-asses had in mind for me. If it wasn't for him... Hestia's voice left her and Neario poured more beer into her cup.  
- Drink and forget, he joked. Later on I learned that his way of coping with reality was a dark sense of humour, only to be rivalled by the general Hades, who gained the reputation "king of the death" for his way of displaying himself with sculls of Chronites as trophies.

Neario, Hestia and I went on trading war-stories after dinner and way into the night. There wasn't really much else to do, and I wouldn't go to bed, because my sentry duty was rather early in the night. I didn't want to sleep before that, because I'm not that easy to wake up in the middle of the night. And I didn't want to get a bad reputation for being lazy on the first night together with Anzoura and her contingent.

I had just fallen asleep after being released of my duty when I was waken up by commotion down in the main hall. First I thought it was the Chronites who had found us, but I heard no sounds of battle, only exaggerated and risen voices. I left my bed and went out of the little chamber (a former office) I was sharing with Hestia. She was sound asleep and I decided to not wake her up as soon as I had realised that this was not a "red alert" situation.

Instead I went out and leaned over the railing. Down in the hall there were people gathering. I saw Anzoura's red head in the sparse light. She was facing a group of five people in black leather coats standing by the gates. Another of her people was flanking her. It was Iliteo, the guy who had released me of my sentry-duty. The other centry, our Acciran was also there, radiating stress and nervousness. A tall and broad shouldered blond man was talking to Anzoura.  
- We were betrayed. Someone must have known of our hiding.  
- Who can that be? Anzoura asked.  
- I don't know yet. Only that these four people with me are perfectly reliable.

- Reikon? Anzoura asked.  
- I'm sorry, Anzoura, the blond man said. He did not make it. By these words I saw Anzoura, who had seemed so cold and held together, break down in tears. The blond man took her in his arms and she was crying on his shoulder while he turned to Iliteo and asked him to help with finding room for him and his companions.  
- Oh, yes, great Zeus, I will take care of it immediately. Iliteo saluted him.

Zeus! So that was Zeus. In a way I had expected some kind of superman, but he looked perfectly normal. Sure, he was handsome to say the least and he looked tough and smart. With a "don't mess with me or my people" -attitude. But at the same time just like anyone else in the Order. He kept on caressing the crying Anzoura until Iliteo came back and spoke in a low voice to Zeus and his friends and then they walked up the steel staircase to the catwalk where the offices law.

At that moment I got an attack of shyness. I didn't want anyone to see that I have been spying on them, especially not the crying Anzoura. She would definitely not be pleased when finding out that another one of Kaoran's warriors had seen her in tears. So I backed into mine and Hestia's room and went back to bed. Hestia woke up by then and mumbled something, to which I answered.  
- Just a release of sentry. And I needed to visit a certain place.

The next day everyone knew that Zeus and his four comrades had arrived in the night, and the place was buzzing with the news that the Uroka mines had been betrayed.  
- I have some ideas of who it might be, said Neario to me. But he would not reveal anything more.

Zeus and his foursome appeared for breakfast, and there were short introductions. Apparently I and Akita together with Jujo, a man in Anzoura's group, were the only ones who hadn't met Zeus earlier. I was the last one Zeus came up to, just because I happened to sit farthest back from where he and his foursome had sat down.  
- So you're Hera, the one they call the flying girl, he said. Welcome to the Order!

I rose and saluted Zeus the way I had seen Iliteo do earlier, meeting the bluest pair of eyes I've ever seen. In my mind I had been preparing speeches for this meeting. But when it really happened I was so in awe I lost my tongue and I found myself answering something stupid about "being proud to fight by his side".

He smiled, told me to relax and took my hand in a very equal manner. And he must've been about 215 cm tall, since he even towered over Oroaro and I, being 180, had to bend my neck to face him. And although he was imposing and radiating strength I couldn't understand people like Luvina who said he was scary. I felt safe instead, knowing that I could trust this man with my life if so should be.

Later on Zeus and his little group (Which consisted of the generals Demeter and Poseidon plus two warriors named Lorelei and Utargar) sat down with Kaoran and Anzoura to do some strategic talking. Apparently it had been a huge reverse for the Order to loose the mines of Uroka. There was talks about lost intelligence as well as the death of valuable fighters. But Zeus had got away, that felt like the most important thing at the moment.

They were in that room talking for hours while the rest of us engaged in martial art training, and I found out that running up vertical walls is not a common trait. Several times I had to show my abilities to run, spin and jump across the main hall while fighting off imaginary enemies. I had known I was agile and fast, but even these people, who must've seen hundreds of warrior gods, were impressed by me and I felt my confidence grow quite a bit that day.

Naturally Zeus became the one in command after his arrival and he did some rearranging in the group. I was teamed up with Neario, Oroaro and Anzoura's little sister Xurasa. Then we went back to the Uroka mines. That might sound way strange, but according to Zeus that would be the last place on Earth where the Chronites would be looking for us.

And while preparing Uroka for its new guests I got the chance to get to know the general Demeter – as well as my first biology lesson concerning immortals versus mortals, and what makes us different from them.

- You might remember how the DNA works, Demeter started. And about dominant and non dominant genes. All living things are made out of DNA, and the DNA is constructed out of genes. Those genes are what makes us humans (or goats or oaks or bacterias) and they form us, from hair colour over gender and size of feet to temper. They are glued together in pairs. Two and two. And often one dominant and a non dominant. The dominant gene is the one that takes control if you carry two different genes. You have to have two non-dominant genes for that trait to shine through. One kind of dominant gives you brown eyes. Another one makes you mortal.

- All immortal humans have a pair with two immortal genes, she went on. So when we mate we're getting immortal children. But when one of us mates with a mortal the offspring usually gets one immortal gene paired with a mortal one and thus becomes mortal. Some people use the incorrect term demigod. Carrier of an immortal gene is a better expression.  
- Does that happen often? I asked the older goddess.  
- Sometimes. Especially… Well, there are certain gods who like seeking lust with mortal women. The other way around is uncommon. On top of that, mortal seed seldom "catches" with immortal eggs.

- Why?  
- I don't know. But there's a catch here too. If the god mates with a mortal carrying an immortal gene which gets passed on to the child, this child becomes immortal. And there's even… mortals who have gotten divine children.  
- Really? How?  
- Two mortals carrying and passing on an immortal gene each to the child. It's extremely rare, but it has happened. Nature's sense of humour, I use to call it.

- There is also another thing with those immortal genes - they wake up other genes. Genes, which are usually referred to as sleepers or "garbage" genes with mortals, because they don't do anything. But for immortals they bring forward things like superhealing, levitation ability and mindspeech - traits which most of us have, but also telepathy, telekinesis and other more rare traits, like elektrokinesis and element manipulation abilities on sub-atomic levels. Zeus… Well, let's just say that you'll be surpriced when you find out what he can do!

Zeus left a few days later. Together with Poseidon, Utargar and Anzoura's trapper Nyx he ventured north to find some other groupings of the Order who apparently were in dire trouble. He left Demeter in charge of us and the new groupings he had created remained. So I found myself together with Oroaro, Neario and Xurasa doing raids against local Chronite encampments while Hestia and her group were sent off south to gather new immortals that were hiding in the coastal region. Anzoura stayed back in the mines as Demeter's right hand.


	4. Entering the city of Titans

_First of all to __Lady Sonora the__ Black-Rose, thanks for the nice words! _

_Now Hera enters on her most dangerous mission so far. And I've also added a short guest-appearence of a Norse god - Odin, here with his original name - Oden. _

**Entering the city of Titans**

There is something interesting in with what war does to people. Of course it maims and hurts both the bodies and souls, but it causes other things too. Fighting side by side brings people close. And after saving each others lives countless of times in various raids and battles Neario and I found that we were falling in love.

I don't really know how it started, I only knew that after an attack against a Chronite troop encampment we found usselves kissing like madmen. Drenched in blood we were standing in the pouring rain among the smoking ruins of the Chronite training camp and kissing and caressing like school kids after a spring ball. After letting go to catch breath we were staring in surprise at each other. "How did that happen".

Discovering Neario was one of the greatest adventures in my life during these years. Much more exciting than the tedious and tiring handicraft war often is, whatever all these "wanna-be-heroes"- veterans say.

Neario was multi-levelled to say the least. Being from the Santori he was one of the last real aristocrats. Beneath the warrior was the poet and beneath him was the lover, hiding a little playful boy with a wicked sense of humour. His tongue could cause burning sensations at various body parts of mine as well as create everything from inspiring speeches to crazy puns. And what a singer he was! His dark voice could handle both romantic standards and aggro-inspiring war-songs.

Neario also taught me that I was beautyful. He wrote poetry about my eyes and about my laughter, praised my legs and hands and told me how he loved the colour of my hair. He kissed my lips and breasts and told me again and again how he treassured them. All this until my last piece of self-insecurity melted away. He taught me to look at myself in the mirror in a new way - and to see a beautyful woman instead of a plain-looking teenager.

And the love-making part! Sensational to say the least. He was so tender, so sweet, soothing, calming after a terror-painted raid. And he could also be heating for a frosen soul. Like burning ice. Like melting fire. Moments to treasure. Moments that made this whole war business bearable.

Most of the raidings we did during these years were rather uninteresting out of a strategic perspective, although they could have been great action movies if someone had been there with a camera. If cameras were invented back then of course. But there were some notable things that made it into the history books. One of these was the destruction of the MIMER.

Two years after my first encounter with Zeus (he came back later now and then, but mostly to see the officers. I believe I only spoke to him twice or three times over that period, once to offer him Nectar.) Hestia arrived into Uroka with a little band of what she referred to as hackers. They were young godlings, only in their early teens. Well, I was still 19 so I wasn't that much older. And they called themselves hackers because they were marvellous at breaking into the enemy's computers.

And out of their abilities together with our war skills the idea of taking down the MIMER was born. MIMER was - if you don't know - the central intelligence computer, located somewhere in Titanopolis. That computer held all the valuable information the Chronites needed to fight their war against us, including the presumed genetical coding of "The Usurper" which was their name for Zeus.

Daelona and Jujo went off as forerunners to gather intelligence, like blueprints over the CTIO - Chronite-Titanic Intelligence Office - including the location of the MIMER. I was the one selected for the job, and together with me I would bring two of the hackers: Aniersa and Oden.  
- Be careful, Hera! said Neario and kissed me.  
- I will. And you too.

Three days later we were in Titanopolis. These days that city was a gloomy and depressing place littered with ugly monumental architecture. Gray, gothic concrete castles, broad esplanades lined with hawk crowned colonnas, big windy plazas with enormous Chronos statues. And lurking over the city - The Great Hall of the Titans.

Gee - I still shiver when I think of that building with its huge dome. It represented all and everything we wanted to get rid of. Or - as Zeus used to say: the five T:s. Titans, Tyranny, Terror, Torture and Titans. Yeah - Titans twice. Zeus's idea of humour. All of the city breathed and lived Titan Force. Not in any way like the colourful happy-go-lucky party town that is Mychenae of today. So don't complain if you think it's tacky. You don't know what this town has been through and what it is still revolting against.

We were staying under cover in a colourless hotel. I as Juno Jaleeza again and the two youths went as my children. (Weird to have children only five years younger than yourself.) The whole town smelled of fright and you felt like there were spying eyes everywhere. So we talked little and showed less of our abilities.

Next day we sought up the CTIO building. Another creepy concrete complex. Getting in was easy while following the rules Jujo had provided us with. Fake ID:s proved us as collar workers in the CTIO. And Oden with his odd gray hair colour could almost pass for a Titan. A tiny and slender one all right, but still a Titan. Later on I learned that Okeanos, his father, was actually a half-Titan.

Locating the MIMER was harder. It was not in the blueprint. But Aniersa had an odd ability, being able to trace the tracks of huge amounts of data being processed. An ability I have never encountered later. So we followed her through the building, trying not to look as lost as we felt.

I had expected the MIMER to be located in the basement. Such a huge computer must take up a whole hall and weigh tons. (To put things into perspective I must point out that the MIMER possessed less memory than the palm pilots of today, but back in the Titan era it was considered a marvel). But the Titans were crafty construction engineers, you must give them that, even if their aesthetic abilities left a lot to wish, and the MIMER was actually located high up in the building.

As we did not trust the elevators (too easy to get caught in) there were a lot of stairs to climb. And Aniersa, the brain on legs, was not made for physical labours, so I ended up carrying her up the last dozen of flights. Even Oden was pallid when we reached the level where the MIMER was located.

Less than ten minutes later I found myself in a big hall with a monstrous machine.  
- Looks like nothing I've seen before, said Aniersa.  
- Yeah, that wouldn't be easy to hack, answered Oden.  
- Well, we better not stand here staring at it, Aniersa told her comrade. We won't get in that way. C'mon let's hack and make Hestia proud of us. That's what we came for, right?

I sat down and watched while the two 14 years olds went on trying to break into the MIMER. At first it looked like they were succeeding. But then someone somewhere must have made some kind of mistake, because things were starting to behave strange.  
- Chaos! Aniersa sounded worried. There's a hardware lock. And it's being programmed to self-destructing things.  
- Let it self-destruct, I urged the teens. That's what we came for, wasn't it? Destroying the MIMER.

-That's not what's gonna happen, said Oden. It's only gonna destroy the access points. The core will remain, inaccessible to us. So when the Titans have repaired the access points they will be able to harvest an undamaged core.  
- Let's prevent that from happening then, I said. Can you do that?  
- We can always try, answered Aniersa. But we have to hurry, there has probably been some alarm going off somewhere.  
- Screw the alarms, said Oden. Let's blast the thing! By that he started to hammer on a keyboard.

- No, Chaos! you are doing everything wrong! screamed Aniersa. That's not the way to... At that very moment there was a short cut. A beam of light flashed from a place near where Aniersa was standing, past Oden and hit the opposite wall, where it blew a big hole in the wall. The room filled with smoke and now audible alarms went off even on this level. Faith! We had screwed up big time!

Aniersa was lying on the floor, lifeless eyes staring up in the ceiling (or into eternity). There was no life-energy around her anymore. She was dead. I wished her soul a safe travel through the hyperdimensions to the Beyond. That was the only thing I could do at that moment. Oden on the other hand was alive. But barely. Half of his face was blown off and he had burn damages on his chest and left arm. But there was a faint flickering of life inside him. The MIMER was destroyed though. In that burning wreckage there could be no data to retrieve.

I realised that we had to be out of here like yesterday. The hyperadrenaline that started to flow through my body made Oden feel light as a feather while I grabbed him in my arms and lifted him over my shoulder. Then I ran out of the room and through the long corridor the same way we had come. Behind me I heard commands being shouted. The Titans were coming. And probably Chronites too. I decided I needed a diversion. Holding on to Oden I ran through the great panoramic window ahead of me, shattering glass as I went. There was a fall of 50 floors below me, but I turned in mid-air and entered the CTIO the same way I had left. Instead I opened up the nearest door, and hid myself in a minor office chamber.

The Titans bought my trick. They might be strong and tough, but they have never been the biggest brains on the planet. That's why their race was doomed from the start anyway, when the new Homo Sapiens came along. 16 angry security staffers ran up to the window. And among these there were five with levitation abilities, who followed my false trace out of the window. At the same time I did my best to mask mine and Oden's energy patterns where we were hiding.

The rest was a kind of an anti-climax. I left the same way I had entered, rendering Oden invisible and even wishing the security guard a happy evening. He wanted to know what all the mayhem was about, why the alarm had went off at floor 53.  
- I have no idea to be honest, I answered. I have more than enough work with minding my own business.

The next day I was back home among my own again. Oden was really bad off though. Demeter managed to heal most of him. But she told us:  
- There is something wrong with the boys regenerating abilities. I can't get his left eye to rebuild.  
- But at least he is alive, Kaoran said.  
- There's more than that, said Demeter. There is something stuck in his brain. An alien core of something.

- Chaos, you're right, said Kaoran after piercing into the teenagers mind. It's - it's data! Megabytes of information.  
- How did that get there? asked Demeter. I retold the accident with the MIMER and offered my conclusion. Somehow data had been transferred through that electric flash and into Oden's brain.  
- But that's impossible, was Kaoran's reaction.  
- Not really, said Demeter. The brain communicates through tiny electric sparks and in theory information can be transferred through to brains via electricity. Like some technical version of mindspeak or even telepathy. That might've been what happened to Oden.

- So some of the information from the MIMER is actually relocated into the boys brain? said Anzoura.  
- That's probably the case, answered Demeter. But in what shape it is and if it's retainable is more than we can know now. We must wait until he regains consciousness again.  
- And that will take...  
- Maybe a day, maybe more. It depends on the status of his brain.

It turned out that we had to wait 25 hours before Oden was back up again. But I was right, information from the MIMER was stuck in the hackers brain. Nothing we could find use for though, it was mostly medical information concerning the human body and also maps over the Central Continent and the Northern Peninsula. And Oden was so burned-out and confused that he had to be taken out of active duty, and I never heard much of him anymore during the war. Later on, when he regained his strength, he left the Order and travelled up north. And years later I heard that he had somehow managed to get his odd abilities under control and actually managed to form his own pantheon - the Valhall - on the rubbles of the fallen Asgard.

But I was back in the arms of my dear Neario and we made love and traded stories throughout the night. And when the first lights of dawn started to shine through the mirrored light shaft I finally fell asleep in the arms of my love.


	5. Mountain Trek

_Thanks for kind reviews! Love ya! Now brace yourself for this old-style adventure:_

**Mountain Trek**

At these high altitudes it uses to snow in wintertime even as far south as in Delgarenzia. And during the three days we had been travelling through the wood-covered Delgaron mountains it had been snowing almost constantly. A heavy fall of large white flakes covered the ground and the trees in white, muted the sounds and made the world feel almost unreal, like we were travelling in a nowhereland beyond known realms.

This silence, this feeling of unrealness made one almost want to whisper, scared of waking what strange spirits or beings who might be hiding among the trees. Sometimes you thought you saw something, but it was only a large stone or a little pine-bush that looked oddly human. Or a hare or a stag jumping away when seeing us travellers.

Sometimes we crossed small creeks, half-covered in ice and where the sound of running water seemed to blast through the silence. And sometimes we came across winter-roses, those outlandish, blood-red flowers that blossoms in the middle of the winter. And just as the creek-water sounded too loud, these sole spots of colours in this monochromic world seemed strangely out of place.

We were travelling by foot, since we wanted to avoid being noticed by all means, and thus flying – and giving away energy signatures – was out the of question. The snow helped us with that stealth, and I was not the only one guessing Zeus had a finger in that.

People had been talking about his weather controlling abilities now and then but he had been saying very little himself. He was indeed an enigma, this leader of ours. No one really knew of his origin, save for that he had grown up on Crete and had been an orphan early. But his powers were remarkable and so was his endurance, intelligence, strategic skill and ability to judge people and situations. On top of that were the rumours. The rumours that Zeus was indeed The Chosen One, the God of Thunder which the prophecy spoke about – the one destined to kill Chronos. But Zeus never talked about it, when these things were mentioned he just smiled in his usual charming but secretive way.

We were eight members of the Order travelling down to Ezrindor, a town located in the south of Delgarenzia, to meet up with members of another guerrilla, named the Wolfmen. These people were apparently so important that Zeus had decided to meet them himself. And with him he had taken the trapper Nyx and six fighters. Beside me and Neario there were Xurasa, Nariakis, Kaoran and Sireta.

Nariakis and Sireta were sister and brother, loosely related to Kaoran and they were both lean, pale-skinned red-heads with deep-set emerald eyes over freckled and pointy noses. They were also hot-tempered and skilled terrain-fighters. But while Nariakis was silent and almost a loner, Sireta was a talkative and socialising woman, with an opinion about most things.

At night we rested in caves, where Nyx always waited for us upon our arrival. And while we cooked and ate and then talked a bit before sleeping Nyx vent out in the dark, covered the whole next days travelling and found the cave for the next night. Then she mindcalled Kaoran on a deep-mode to let him know next days trip, including the best route and possible dangers. Thus she was always one step ahead of the rest of us, and we never saw much of her, because she slept at day and trekked in the dark, this Queen of the Night.

I had wanted to know her better, she seemed almost as enigmatic as Zeus. But she talked very little other than with Kaoran and Zeus.  
- She's haughty, Xurasa stated. She thinks she's so much better than us simple warriors.  
- She's not, answered Neario. She's just shy. And Zeus is the only one she really knows. Really trusts.  
- What do I care, Sireta said. She's finding us the best way over these mountains. We wouldn't have made it so fast without her. She's a pro. Then the socialising part matters less if you ask me.

It was on the third evening, and this far the trip had been uneventful, bordering on boring. To cheer myself up I went over to the cooking-fire and helped myself to another serving of the stew Sireta had made. Zeus was sitting by himself and looking into the flames, lost in thoughts. I sat down next to him, decided to get some answers about these Wolfmen and why they were so important.

- They have intelligence about Chronos, Zeus said and took away his gaze to meet my looks.  
- What do they know? Where he dwells?  
- Apparently. And also some about his powers and how he's protected. Information worth its weight in gold. If you could weigh information, that is.

- You could weigh the paper it's printed upon, I said.  
- You're right, Hera, he smiled. But then there wouldn't be much gold for them.  
- And what's in it for them? In return for this information?

- They're too few to try to take out Chronos themselves, I guess. And on top of that they are running out of firearms. We have promised them more of these and ammo to them in return for the information. If we can make this deal work, Hestia's contingent are going to carry it the same way as we're taking now.

- Do you trust these Wolfmen? I asked. I mean, I remember last year – the setup that killed Rakoure and his group near Darniscar, it started with something similar as this.  
- I know. But first of all, the Titans wouldn't dare trying the same stunt twice. Second, Rakoure was, if not reckless, not suspicious enough. Had he listened to Lorelei he would have understood that it was a trap and not led almost his whole contingent into death.

- Yes, I said and ate of my stew, thinking back on last year. Lorelei, Nariakis and a woman named Eurynome had been the only survivors out of that fiasco.  
- Then, Hera, in a war like this you have to take calculated risks. We need this intelligence on Chronos so bad, we have almost nothing on him, we don't know where the old bastard hides, how to get there, what he's capable of doing to defend himself and how big forces he has protecting him. If these Wolfmen are hiding in Ezrindor they can be twelve the most – a fair chance for the eight of us if they turn out hostile.

- But if there's Titans there? I asked. More Titans than we can handle?  
- Then, as always, we'll sense them before they sense us and we'll retreat. The worst outcome of this venture is that we're going to return empty-handed and have wasted a fortnight or so. But we can't throw this possible opportunity away.

He sounded so confident, Zeus, and I looked at him, trying to find something in his body-language that revealed that he was just encouraging me. But there wasn't anything. Zeus wasn't making things sounding better than they were just to calm down his followers. He knew that the world out there was cruel and unforgiving and he was honest about it, but he was just as honest when speaking of our fair chances.

Neario came up to us and sat down on my other side. He was releasing his pony-tail, letting down his thick dark-brown mane, shaking his head to keep it from falling in his face. His strong, sensitive hand took mine, started to caress it, brown eyes smiling lovingly.  
- Talking strategies? he asked.  
- Sort of, Zeus said. There's some more cocoa left in the pot if anyone want.  
- Great, said Neario. I can need something to warm me up. Hera?  
- No thanks, I can't sleep if I drink cocoa this late. And besides I expect you to warm me up.

Both men laughed at that, and then Zeus retold what he just had said to me about the Wolfmen while Neario served himself a cup of the still hot beverage.  
- But isn't it a bit strange, Neario pointed out, that we haven't heard about this guerrilla earlier? And suddenly they pop up out of nowhere and offer us hot information. I smell something foul here.  
- Well, you've always been the suspicious one, Santorian, and I don't blame you for that. But as I said to Hera, sometimes you have to take chances.

The next day the snow had stopped, but the sky was still overcast. White covered the ground in every direction, and here and there animal tracks could be seen. Nariakis had been up early, hunting as usual, and snared a hare which he had prepared for breakfast. Xurasa looked up at the skies, pointing out the obvious absence of falling flakes.  
- I guess even with Zeus' help it can't just keep snowing, Sireta said.

Zeus didn't comment on that, instead it was Kaoran who spoke.  
- Just talked to Nyx. Today's trek is a long one, trough some bad terrain. But in the end there's a special reward. Nyx found a cave with a hot spring, she was enjoying it as we mindspoke. Come on, let's go!

We had to backtrack a few hundred meters, but in the end we found usselves continuing towards south-east as we were supposed to. And around noon we were walking around a glacier lake with ink-dark water, its waves patting the rocks with a chilly, gurgling sound. And I was thinking of other waters. Warmer waters. Hot springs. Me and Neario in a…

Suddenly Zeus stopped, laying a hand on Kaoran who was walking in front of him. The next moment a flock of rock-doves took off from the tree they had been resting in.  
- Chronites, Zeus said.  
- Engaging or hiding? Kaoran asked.

- Hiding, Zeus said. They are not plenty, but it's pointless that they learn there are immortals here, which they might do if we engage and someone gets away or gets the chance to mindcall a warning.

So we climbed up behind some of the rocks on the shore, and waited for the patrol to pass. It didn't take long, they were on horse-back and were fewer than a dousen. It didn't seem to be "just a patrol", but some rather busy Titan Chronites on their way somewhere, their blood-red cloaks flowing behind them while the horses galopped northwards, the way we had come.

Next time we weren't so lucky. Less than a hour later, when we had left the lake behind us, Zeus sensed another enemy contingent. And they were plenty.  
- But what are they doing here? Nariakis asked. Do they know we're here and are looking for us?  
- They know _someone's_ here, Kaoran said. But that might as well be these Wolfmen. Or some local deities who are hiding around here.

- They are too many to engage without taking uncalculated losses, said Zeus. We have to hide, or at least find a better place to take them on from. A place able to defend.  
- Somewhere up the mountains? Neario asked. Do we dare to levitate?  
- No, they haven't found us yet. We better stay grounded until they do. If they do, I mean. Come on! This way!

Yet another time we were doubling back, this time besides plans. When we returned to the lake we took the eastern shore instead of the western one where we had arrived. The Chronites were following us, but it was too early to say if they had noticed us or not.  
- We might get away, if we don't display immortal powers, Zeus guessed.

Upon the next turn we came to an almost flat grass area, where sheep ate from the sparse, yellow grass. By the other end of the field lied a little village, cuddled up against the mountainside. Its grey buildings looked simple and insignificant, but yet with a kind of dignity and pride, like the people dwelling there were proud of being able to survive in this harsh land.

From the village came a sole man, an old mortal with a donkey carrying empty baskets. They were going to collect something. When the man noticed us he kneeled, dropped his forehead to the ground.  
- Mighty gods and goddesses, what brings old Kordiag this honour?

Zeus was addressing him:  
- We're on the run, Chronites are coming this way, looking for us. We will need a place to hide or at least being able to defend. Can you help us by telling if there's such a place around, Kordiag?

Kordiag looked up at Zeus:  
- You can hide in the old temple of Vaoure, our mountain-god, the old man said. He's dead, but the Chronites are still scared of that place. It's said that he haunts it.  
- Thank you, my friend. You will find enough firewood if you continue fifty metres north from the place you visited yesterday. And don't worry about the steep terrain, your animal will handle. Zeus made a beneficiation gesture in front of the elderly mortal and then we followed in the direction he had pointed.

Soon enough we had both found and climbed that hill, which was really a part of the nearest mountain. And on an outcropping lied the abandoned temple, its bells singing wordlessly to the wind. In front of the building lied a broken stone lantern, deprived of light and soul. The cleaning bath was dry and filled with old leaves, the stone-dragon which has once spewed water had lost its tail. Most of the temple's roof was gone and some of the pillars were tumbled, but we found shelter anyway. And then we waited. And waited. No Chronites came our way.

I was sitting in the lap of Neario, my hands inside his jacket, and we were caressing lightly, my forehead against his cheek, his stubble itching my skin. We didn't say anything, just rested in each others presence. Next to us sat Xurasa, toying with a throwing blade, feeling it's balance and aiming it at some pretended target. Juggling it in her brown hand, aiming again. Repeating herself.

- Are we going down? Sireta asked after a while.  
- If it feels safe enough, Kaoran answered her. Zeus?

Zeus told us to wait while he scanned the surrounding.  
- Most of the Chronites have left. But there are some lingering. They know we're here. They can't take this place, but we can't stay here much longer on the other hand. We better break out.

So be it. We left the place running downhill, sensing the enemy coming at us. They were a bit more than five times our number, but on the other hand we had the opportunity of coming from above. Here and there the track was slippery and I found myself levitating more than running. Not that it mattered, they know where we were now.


	6. The Wolfmen

_First of all - thanks all for nice reviews! And - Julia - the Titanomachy was the battle between the Gods and the Titans, it's Greek and means Battle against Titans, it was a poem written by a man called Hesiod and it's the very one I'm reviving in a modern story format, and with a lot of adaptations. _

_Now enter the Egypt gods..._**_

* * *

_**

**The Wolfmen**

We clashed in to the enemy, our war-cry meeting theirs. As so many times before I found myself hacking and slashing through a mass of Chronites, finishing them off fast, the hypersight helping me foreseeing their next moves. It was all routine these days. The air was static with Zeus's thunderbolts and the hair was standing up on my neck. Neario was behind me, his back to mine, calm and focused as usual.

In less than ten minutes it was over, the ground covered with Titan bodies. But two of us were down. Xurasa and Sireta. And Kaoran was bleeding from a stab-wound in his back, holding his hand to the injured part to speed up his healing.

Zeus kneeled by Xurasa, who talked to him, still laying down with eyes closed.  
- I'm OK. Have good healing abilities. See to Sireta instead.  
- Sireta's dead, Zeus said. Adamantine blade stabbed right into her heart. She only lasted a few minutes, and I couldn't get to her. To many Chronites in the way.

- Curse you, Zeus, couldn't you have… Nariakis rose from the body of his fallen sister, eyes wet with tears, accusing glares at our leader.  
- I am sorry, no. I really tried. But there was…  
- You could have saved her, you should have saved her, your cursed, selfish son of a Titan bastard and his ugly bitch!

Nariakis jumped at Zeus but Neario and I got him off the Cretan, trying to calm him down.  
- Nariakis, please! I begged. You're only making things worse. We have all lost beloved ones in this war. There's no use in blaming people for Titan deed. Instead we ought to tomove on if we're going to make it out of here alive. We owe that to Sireta.

- Zeus, I will hold you personally responsible for this, Nariakis insisted.  
- Hera's right, put that aside, Kaoran said. Say goodbye to Sireta now. She will be remembered and honoured.  
- We have to be out of here, Zeus said dryly. Or we won't make it to Nyx' cave tonight.

Nariakis continued cursing Zeus but no-one was listening. We set the dead goddess' body on fire and left the battleground as soon as Xurasa was standing up again.

The first thing we noticed while descending from the mountain was that the energies felt wrong. Then we felt the smell of burning wood. And other things burning too. The village was gone, ruined. And all the villagers killed. Young, old, men, women, children, all dead and their cut-off heads paled upon thick stakes of wood.

- The Chronites, Zeus said with ash in his voice. One old man helped us. And for that "crime" the Chronites destroy the whole village and murder all the inhibitors. This has to come to an end before this whole world plunges into a deep pit of darkness and violence. Before the human race become infested with the same kind of violence that leads the Titan mind.

- We're not there yet, Xurasa said.  
- No. Not yet, Zeus answered, with a stress on "yet". As if the normally so optimistic man was beginning to believe the worst.

We went down to the lake and washed off most of the battle-blood in the cold water. But what we couldn't wash off was the guilt-ridden feeling that we indirectly had killed that innocent mortal village. We, who were immortal humans. We, who were supposed to help these people, care for them. We, who had been received with trust and worship by this old mortal named Kordiag.

- Don't let that eat you, Neario told me when I shared my thoughts with him. There was nothing we could have done. If we'd chosen to defend the mortals village we might have lost more than poor Sireta. I'm more worried about her death to be honest. There are so few of us immortals lest, and we're getting fewer every day. At the same time there are mortals enough, they breed and multiply almost unbothered by the Chronites and their holocaust against us.  
- But these people in the village were innocent. We were supposed to protect them.

- Hera, if we lose this war, if the Titans kill all of us, there would be no more immortals to save the mortals. Our kind must stay alive, even if that means sacrificing a few mortals.  
- A few mortals! Neario, didn't you see what the Chronites did to these people?  
- Yes I did, and I find it as revolting as you do. But if we don't put ourselves and our own survival in the first room, there will be no one around to save the mortals and the Titans could treat the rest of humanity like they treated these poor souls.

While we discussed that, Nariakis went over to Zeus and offered him his hand:  
- Zeus, I'm sorry about what I said up there. I didn't think clearly, I was blinded by sorrow over my last sister. My very last family. I over reacted.  
- No problem, Zeus said with a noble voice. You're not the first one to do so, and you won't be the last. I've reacted the very same way myself several times. Come on, we have to get moving!

Zeus's last words were aimed at all of us, and we resumed our interrupted trek. But the problems were not over this Chaos-ridden day. Some Chronites had lingered in the woods and now, while we started to leave, tired and unfocused, they saw their chance. First we sensed nothing, we entered the same track we had come from, through bushy shore-vegetation.

Then, suddenly, there was a presence. The next moment Xurasa threw one of her knives in among the trees. A crackling of broken branches, a deep "thud" followed by a grunt and then the familiar feeling of someone dying. But there were more presences around us, and suddenly one of them crashed down upon Xurasa in front of me and the next one fell on me, an adamantine blade touching my neck.

I felt my shielding weakening beneath the powers of the adamantine, but I got hold of the attackers arm, twisting his hand and having him dropping the blade. The next moment I threw him to the ground, beheading him with one single cut of my own sword. It was all over in a couple of seconds, and Xurasa's attacker was also down, killed by Kaoran.

But there were still two more presences lurking among those thick pine bushes. Zeus held up his hand, trying to locate them. Then, abruptly, another explosion of ruffled leaves and cracking twigs, and two figures came crashing out of the bushes in front of us, a big, fat Titan female upon a smaller figure. Kaoran and Xurasa, first in line, managed to wrestle the Titan loose from the other figure and pinning her down.

- Scan her, Zeus! Kaoran called. She's our last chance to get to know something about these Chronites. Zeus went up to the Titan and mindread her, while she was screaming and cursing at us in her own guttural language. I was helping the other person up. He was no Titan, far from it, he was one of us, an immortal human.

That was how we met Thot, our very first Wolfman. He was a short but barrel-chested, dark-skinned man with his head shaven save for one single, thick braid at the back of his head. Introductions were done fast, Thot turned out to be the Wolfmen's best trapper, and he had been sent out by their leader Amon to find us and follow us from a safe distance, trying to find out if we were reliable people or not.

He had located us yesterday, and the tracing had worked just fine until we had encountered the Chronites. While we were battling them outside the abandoned temple, four of them had apparently sensed him, left the battle and tried to take him down instead.

Thot had decided it had been in his best interest to reveal himself and asking us for help against the Chronites, but his followers had been faster. One – the fat woman - had attacked him while the others had decided to go after us in a loosing battle. But they were never smart these Titans. They always did these stupid mistakes, always relying on number and strength, and never able to judge when that was far from enough.

Five hours later, when darkness had fallen, we finally reached Nyx' hot-spring cave, a tired and hungry group with Thot as number seven instead of Sireta. Nyx got a short summary of the day including Zeus's disappointing message that the fat Titan hadn't really known anything of worth. Her superior had fallen for one of us outside that temple and his superior in turn had been one of these cloaked Titans who had left in a hurry on their horses.

- A bit more than one days trek lies ahead of us, Nyx said. I'll find a last resting place tonight, and if everything goes as planned we will be in Ezrindor at midmorning the day after tomorrow.

Neario and I stayed in the hot spring until we have been warmed-up into our very bones, and snow and chill had become but a memory to our sweaty, wet bodies. When we finally got up Xurasa, Kaoran and Nariakis had been asleep since long and Nyx had ventured out on her next trek. But we found Zeus sitting with this Thot, talking silently about things that felt important.

- Can't believe Zeus trusts this stranger, Neario said. After knowing him less than a day.  
- He knows who to trust and who to beware of. Don't ask me how, but somehow he does.  
- I hope you're right, my love. Come on, let's go to bed. There's going to be another long day tomorrow, and it's already beyond late.

Two days later we arrived in Ezrindor, a worn and dirty town who mourned its lost beauty like a mortal crone. Ezrindor's canals were filled with sewage and waste and the streets were missing a lot of its cobblestones, weed growing in the potholes. Women with sad eyes were selling their bodies and skinny children were begging at the corners. Almost every house had got most of the windows smashed and where shops and restaurants had once been were now gaping holes. The whole town reeked of misery, even if it wasn't an outright war-zone.

Thot took us to see Amon, the leader of the guerrilla group who called themselves "Wolfmen". These Wolfmen were hiding in an anonymous house at the western outskirts of the town, in an area consisting mostly of abandoned industry buildings and burned-down warehouses. There was a coal mine not far away, and that was the only place where some activity was still going on.

We were met in the door by a woman, who in the dark looked like she had the head of a beast. Finally we understood how the Wolfmen had got their name. When these deities went to battle they wore masques and helmets shaped as animal-heads, most of them wolves, but some bulls, bears, lions and even birds. It looked peculiar and strange, but it had become a sort of a trademark. The Chronites had learned to fear people with animal heads.

- They think we're demons, the Wolfmen leader Amon had explained. Some of them – well, you must know that they are kinda dumb – really believe they are fighting humans with animal heads. This scares them, because they don't know our powers. And it gives us an upper hand.

Amon was a tall, wiry and chocolate-skinned man with frizzy black hair and beard and black eyes which held intelligence and humour, but also a well-concealed but deep sadness. I assumed that he too had lost people close to him. And just like our Zeus he had this kind of charisma that made people want to follow him and rely on him. He was older than Zeus though and carried himself with quite a bit more dignity.

But besides animal heads this guerrilla really had nothing to fight with anymore. They were too few left, most of their divine warriors had been killed on the Southern Continent, and the survivors had fled to the Central Continent, in hope of being able to join with a larger guerrilla group, preferably ours, the now legendary Blue Gold.

- You are welcome to join us, Zeus had promised Amon. But what you must understand is that I can't promise any glory in return for the intelligence about Chronos. I'm not going to promise to take any of your warriors in with me to the lair of Chronos. I might do, I might not. The only thing I must take in consideration is each and every warriors value, and what they can provide with in a final attack against the Chronite lair. And since I'm planning a sneak-attack I can't take too many with me.

- What we expect you to do, Zeus, is to try to get the Titan ruler, using our information as help, Amon said. And do the best you can with the best warriors you can find. If you fail I will give it a try. If you succeed, no one could be more grateful than me, because all I ever want is to see the end of Chronos. Then you'll be my vessel of revenge, my information the guide to your success. I want to see the world devoid of these scum. I want to be able to build a pantheon in a safe world. To seed and raise children without fearing of loosing them.

- Thank you Amon, Zeus said. I'm very moved by the trust you and your Wolfmen are placing upon me. I will do my best to live up to it.  
- Your legend speaks of greatness, the Wolfmen leader answered. People say that you are the heralded God of Thunder, and when I see you and the power that resides in you I know that these rumours are true. You are the one, you are the hope for the whole human race. And I'm only glad to be able to serve you somehow.

- Just one thing out of curiosity, how did you get hold of this information?  
- Not a one lucky stroke, Amon answered. But long and tedious intelligence gathering. Spying, bribing, mindscanning captured Titan Chronites, far-sighting, you name it. And also using a lot of "know thy enemy".

Food had arrived, carried by young, lean goddesses, hardly older than I had been when I first came to the Order. Just as within the Order, the food was nothing fancy, but it was served like it was dishes for royalties, and there were more of it than we used to get during our regular meals, or during our more festive meals too to be true.

And while we ate Kaoran had asked our leader how he felt about being so much trusted by Amon and his people, about being considered as the ultimate saviour. Zeus hadn't answered directly, he had looked first at Amon and then at us before he laid down his fork and spoke:  
- I know that there are a lot of people regarding me as their saviour. Anticipating that I will succeed where others have failed. I hope I won't let them down.

- But doesn't it burden you? Kaoran wondered.  
- Of course it does. But it would burden me more if I wasn't trusted. If I was regarded as a fool and a dreamer or someone with megalomania. It rests heavy on my shoulders of course, especially in the middle of the night, when I lie awake and see the faces of all the people who have died. Then I tend to wonder _is it really me?_ and then _why me?_ But this is the path I must follow. To victory or defeat.

- You are very wise for being so young, Amon said. I must confess that I had real doubts about handing over the Chronos intelligence to you and your Blue Gold. You're plenty of course, and usually victorious, but Zeus, you're not even thirty, whereas I'm more than ten times that age. I was considering other guerrillas too, like the Hundred Handeds and the Screaming Avengers. But the HH:s are too far west to be able to reach without risking too much of my little group and in the end loosing the information. And rumours has it that the 'Avengers have been annihilated.

- That rumour is true, Zeus stated. The last of the 'Avengers, a man called Atlas, his cousin Eurynome and another goddess named Mirse joined us early this year.  
- And I and my Wolfmen will join forces with you, Zeus. We are not many, but we fight well. And I will place myself under your command and trust you with my warriors too.

We had drunk to that, in cheap-tasting warriors wine, and while sipping this foul beverage I had felt something in my inner soul. Some precognition. These were usually rare and faint and even more seldom called upon, but this one rang loud and clear. A turning point had been reached. A point that might change the outcome of this whole cursed war. With Zeus's power and Amon's information we might actually be able to win.


	7. Betrayal

Hi!  
First some words to my nice reviewers:  
_Lady Sonora the Black-Rose _- thanks again! You're my rock!  
_ladymacbeth _- This story takes place in an alternative timeline universe, most things are fantasy, somethings are modern, somethings are ancient and somethings are even SF. ID was not around in ancient times, I know that, but bars certanly were, if one by **bar** means a place where you could buy a drink and sit down and enjoy it. That kind of business has been around since man started to trade.  
_Smiling Eyes _- Keep on reading, you'll see what's bound to happen betw Zeus and Hera. Theirs are not an easy romance.

**

* * *

Betrayal **

- This is the plan, said Poseidon, looking up from the maps and pushing back his long, dark-brown hair. The Titans would expect us to come over the Norlethian mountain range and through the Laograda Canyon. Or possibly over the Grand Glacier. So those places are probably littered with Titan sentries. But there is another way in.  
- Which is? questioned Demeter.  
- The sea.

It was a two level meeting, both with the generals of the Order and the colonels. The last meeting before the actual try at reaching the inner core of the Titan land. I was sitting in for Kaoran who was fighting for his life in the hands of Themis the healer after taking a serious blow in our latest battle. The other ones gathered around the tables were Demeter, Anzoura, Helios, Nyx and Hecate (the latter sitting in for Hades who was stuck somewhere in the west). And Zeus of course. He was sitting backwards on a chair listening to his general explaining the plan. You might think him relaxed by his stance, but his blue eyes were glowing with concentration.

Poseidon was employing his people, the sea-dwellers, to take us out in the sea, around Cape Iga, up the river Lyzarga and into Merioly that way. This was, I believe, the first time an U-boat would be used as a war-vehicle. With the help of the map, a pen and a bronze cup representing the U-boat, Poseidon explained how the mission was going to be performed.  
- Sounds fail-safe enough to me, said Helios. Helios was even fairer than Zeus, with unruly blond hair, freckled white skin and gray-blue eyes.  
- You're right, Zeus answered. But I believe we need something more. A kind of diversion. We should actually leave some people behind. People who can try to break into Merioly the "Expected way".

- Like decoys, you mean? asked Hecate. Hades' colonel was black. And I mean black. Like tar was her skin, and her hair was dyed purple and kept short. The whites of her large eyes were shining.  
- Something like that, answered Zeus. But it would not in a way be a sacrifice. We, who take the other way, take an ever bigger risk, because we are actually going into Chronospolis. The "decoy party" are to withdraw as soon as we have passed beyond our element of surprise and engaged in real battle.  
- So who'll be the decoys? I spoke up. In my mind I was fearing I was being selected for such a task.

Zeus reminded silent for a moment before stating:  
- We will have to have a double for me at least.  
- Me? Helios asked hinting at his blond hair.  
- Hair colour is of no significance among a group who can disguise their obvious appearances. We need someone who has a similar gene combination as I, because that is what the Titans are looking for, now that they are aware that we can "shapechange". That means you, dear little sister of blood. At that moment Zeus turned to Demeter.

I wasn't the only one surprised. I guess only Poseidon knew the true nature of the relation between Zeus and Demeter. Someone had hinted that they were lovers, but that had seemed rather unlikely when Themis had come into picture, presented as Zeus's fiancée. And there was no obvious likeness between the dark-haired olive-skinned Demeter and her fair brother.  
- So I'm doubling for you? To make that convincing I have to have a large group following me.  
- Chose as many as you want, said Poseidon. The sub can only take about 20 persons anyway. And that'll include the sea-people in the crew.

- I don't want a large company with me, said Zeus. Just a small force that can sneak through the Titan defence. But there are certain people I want to bring with me because of their skills. And these are Themis the healer - as much as I would have wished her safely behind, Poseidon - because he can interact with the sea-people, Prometheus as our intelligence man and three unrivalled fighters. I'm referring to Hera, Neario and Helios. Then I'm also taking Hestia, Utargar and Kaoran as backup-fighters. This leaves you with the lot, Demeter. Like Hades, Anzoura, Krios, Oroaro, Nyx, Lorelei, Aokas, Acciran, Hekate, Eurynome, and Atlas.  
- You think Hades will make it back then? asked Demeter.  
- Certainly. That man is ruthless. And he will think of a way even if he has to travel through those caves and dungeons only he knows.

There was a lot of new names dropped here. At that moment I really felt that I was sitting in for someone who was supposed to be here instead of me. Kaoran. My skilled leader. But Zeus had referred to me as an "unrivalled fighter" while he had degraded Kaoran to a backup. So when the meeting was over I gathered all my courage and took Zeus's arm.  
- Zeus, I wonder, I started. Swallowed and started over, more secure sounding this time. If we are going into the enemy's lair together, don't we have to get to know each other better? Prometheus, for instance, is just a name to me. And I also believe, with all due respect, that you are underestimating Kaoran here, using him only as a backup. He is good. He's more than that, to be honest. I've seen him perform miracles.

- Hera, I am in no way underestimating Kaoran. I know his value. I simply want to have the best ones up front by my side when I'm going in against the tyrant. And that means you, flying girl. The only reason why I haven't appointed you general yet, is that there aren't any shortages of these. And I have always wanted you on active duty, unbothered by strategic scheming. You and Neario are the perfect couple in more sense than one. The way you balance each other - there might be other warriors better than you in a single combat, but when you team with Neario it's more than 1 + 1. You are actually equalling 3 or even 4 separate warriors. That's way I'm taking the two of you.

- About familiarising, Zeus went on, there will be enough time for that on the boat. Imagine locked in with the same nine persons for almost a fortnight. There will be plenty of time for you to get to know both Prometheus and Helios. Given that you don't spend all the time tet-a-teting with Neario. He smiled slightly at that last remark. I sighed with relief. It hadn't been as bad as I feared questioning our leader. Zeus wasn't the one who got mad or even annoyed with his underlings questioning his decisions. He explained instead, and after a while you understood his reasoning, and in the long term you got better at making decisions on your own. And the times I've heard him rising his voice it had seemed justified. When we were running out of time for instance.

- It's going to take that long? I asked further. The boat ride I mean.  
- Yes, it's a long distance. And we can't go that fast, because the energy waves get easier to trace the faster we go. The boat is propelled telekinetically you see.  
- But what can they... I mean, the Titans can not suspect that we are coming from the sea, can they?  
- Probably not, said Zeus. But why taking the risk?

I couldn't see any risks, but Zeus was not the one to take unnecessary chances. The whole plan seemed almost fail-safe. The only thing bothering me was the envy of Kaoran when Zeus announced the decision made. Kaoran had wanted that front position so bad. And he had never really believed that his young apprentice had became a master now. And better than he could ever dream of being. That knowledge scared me. I knew that Kaoran was not content with his lot. He wanted more, and I understood that from now on I would have to watch my back for my Warbrother.

- You're so strong, so brave, my beloved. Neario held me tight when I had finished my recapitulation of the officer's meeting including my fears about Kaoran. I looked up into his glittering jacaranda-coloured eyes, so filled with compassion and intelligence. My Neario, so wonderful, always there to listen, offer inspiration and give advice.

- Who's this Prometheus by the way? I asked him.  
- He's a colonel of Poseidon. It was him Zeus was so mad at last year because he had handed out too many firearms to the mortal forces.  
- Oh, yeah, I do remember. I've never seen Zeus so angry. I remember everything felt so uncomfortable. And now this guy's coming with us to Merioly. Must mean he's been forgiven.  
- Well, Zeus has never been the one who let personal grudges stand in the way of strategic desicions. He's taking the people who are the best, that's it.

Neario smiled, showing his dimples, and asked me if I was hungry.  
- Someone has managed to trace down strawberries, and knowing how found you are of these, I tucked some away for you, honey.  
- Oh, thanks, beloved. You're always so thoughtful. Where are they?  
- In the bed-chamber, of course. So we can have dessert too.  
- Can't we be naughty tonight, I suggested, and start with the dessert?  
- Why not, my little rascalette!

Zeus got the crew he wanted. Except Prometheus adding one person, a woman called Oiretha.  
- She's valuable, Prometheus said. If anything happens to me, she's the backup. She can get us out of Merioly if everything fails.

Prometheus, who had come in together with Hades' group, turned out to be a tall bulky man, who could have been taken for a Titan if it hadn't been for his red hair. And in an eerie way I wasn't sure I trusted him. But he and Zeus went way back, so I guess I should put my suspicions behind me. And the day after these enforcements had arrived we set off for the coast and the U-boat. Hades' contingent followed us as bodyguards, even if we thought this to be the easy leg of the trek. It turned out not to be.

The Chronite attack came the second night. We were sound asleep most of us, but luckily we were so used to being waked up in the night that we were already standing up fighting when the enemy force came over us. But there were a lot of enemies that night, wild Titans who attacked us in hordes, pressing us backwards, out in the stony dessert beyond the ruins where we had seeked refuge for the night.

Back to back with Neario I was warding off the almost overwhelming pressure of Titan Chronites coming from every direction, including levitating ones attacking from above. I hardly got time to think, I was just using the hypersight to be able to "slow down" the antics around me and interpret the enemies better, trying to grasp what moves they were going to do the next moment, trying to stay one step ahead.

Until I heard Neario yell out in pain behind me. Too late I realised that I shouldn't have turned around. While I was watching Neario bending over, spilling blood on the ground from a deep stab wound in his belly, a Titan saw his chance and cut me in the chest, slicing up my leather jacket and the skin below, getting through between the ribs and almost piercing my lung.

I felt pain, hot blood fountaining out from my upper chest and I saw the Titan lifting his adamantine sword for the final kill. But somehow I managed to block him with my own sword and at the same time blast him with a pyrotechnic fire bolt, setting his clothes on fire.

Screaming the Titan went down on top of me, but another one pulled him away and attacked me. I lost my balance, tumbled over the fallen Neario and fell to the ground. Next moment it seemed like all the Titans in the world were over me. And they were all armed with adamantine blades, lethal even to a shielded immortal.

_- Oh, dad, I'm sorry! I failed you! Couldn't stay alive more than eight years after you saved me by sacrificing your own life. _

But I refused to close my eyes and await death. I was going to take as many Titans as possible with me down. I still had my blade, I could still cut and slice…

But sparkling electricity fizzed over the enemies, and screaming they went down or turned and ran away from us. The next moment I saw a blood-stained and dirty form effortlessly casting away Chronite bodies and then holding out his hand to help me up. Zeus. He had saved my life – was it for the third or the fourth time?

And Neario? My beloved was rising beside of me, holding on to his wounded belly. Zeus hooked a hand beneath Neario's arm, helping him too.  
- How bad is it, 'Brother? You need help? Healing?  
- I… I'll… Neario coughed and retched, spitting some blood before starting over: I'll do fine. Blade hit my liver. Gonna need some rest, to regain the lost blood.

- That's my boy! You go over to Themis and Oiretha, have the latter giving you some Nectar. And Hera?  
- I'm fine, I'll go on fighting.  
- Seems like there isn't so much more fighting to do, Zeus commented dryly. Just some Chronite deserters to deal with.

Our leader blasted off some thunderbolts after the fleeing enemies who were trying to get out of here alive. None of them did. The battle had been short and not really a battle but a slaughter. We weren't the core troop of the Order for nothing. When the last of Zeus's thunderbolts had disappeared, plasma balls provided us with light so we could count the fallen. It was more than hundred dead Chronites on the ground, but also some of us.

- Poor Hades. Hestia kneeled by the pale man. Now he's on his way to the very land of the death that fascinated him so much.

Also Hades' colonel Tartaros was lost to us as was Utargar and a girl I hadn't known named Eradia. Four soldiers of the Order. That was a large price to pay for a hundred of outback Chronites. But what puzzled me most was that the Chronites had been that many to start with. I shared my worries with Zeus:  
- Betrayal. Zeus lowered his head.  
- But who?  
- Kaoran. I should have expected this to happen. But you really don't want to believe that betrayal can come from a Brother of the Order.

- Kaoran? What makes you think...? I was in shock. The man I had known and trusted for so many years.  
- Look around, Hera! Where is he?  
- You're right, he's gone.  
- Yes. And he isn't dead, because Themis would have felt his soul leaving. He has taken off, probably already early in the night. Before the attack.

- To tell the Chronites it was time to move in?  
- No, to save his sorry skin. Zeus was spitting out his words like they were snake poison. Traitors are always cowards. Then he sort of lost focus for a while, his eyes dropping to my upper body when the nocturnal wind swept aside most of my ragged uniform jacket, displaying my nakedness. I quickly grabbed the rags and shielded myself, both against Zeus's looks and the cold wind. The wound after the Chronite's sword was healed, but my clothes were a hopeless mess.  
- So what's next? I asked.  
- To proceed as planned.

- But Kaoran has certainly told the Chronites about the U-boat and the...  
- Yes, that's the whole point. We are just going to have to employ some new smoke screens. Get me Hecate! She's the one for this job.  
- I will! I saluted Zeus and ran off with my ruined uniform displaying much more than I usually really wanted. But at that time I couldn't even care less. It was not like the men in the camp hadn't seen tits before anyhow.

Zeus sent Hecate the trapper together with Charon and Lu, the two remaining soldiers out of Hades' contingent, after Kaoran, and they returned with the traitor even before sunrise. He seemed more surprised and aggressive than regretful. But I saw real fear in his eyes when he was brought before Zeus, probably he had thought our leader being dead.

Behind Zeus stood Themis, her auburn curls still wet from washing out Chronite blood. She looked devastated, amber eyes filled with tears, and I understood her. Kaoran was her cousin and the only family she had left. He had saved her life, rescuing her from the Chronites a couple of years ago, and she had just payed him back with doing the same with her extraordinary healing powers.

I was sitting a bit away on the stony ground together with Neario, Oiretha and Helios drinking "pick me up"-Nectar, and tried not to listen in, because this whole situation saddened and sickened me.

Zeus went down to business immediately:  
- Kaoran, why did you do this? Kaoran answered something which couldn't be heard if you did not enhance your hearing, which I refrained from.  
- I want your answers on this and you are going to give them to me. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Kaoran, it's your choice. The last choice you're ever going to get by the way.  
- You're gonna kill me anyway, your self-appointed deity, so what good will it do me talking?  
- There are many ways to die by, several of them you don't want to know about. Let me just tell you that I know a lot about inflicting long lasting pain into a human body. And with the stamina of an immortal the terror would last even longer.

- What do you think Eagle's gonna do to the asshole? Helios asked and took my attention from the hearing. Eagle was a nickname Helios, Poseidon and a few others had attached to our leader.  
- Why kill him of course, said Oiretha, like the question was really dumb.  
- But how? He can't drag on too long, because we will have to be out of here soon if we are going to keep the schedule, and before the words about our plans spread the way all throughout the Titan army.  
- He's getting the answers directly from Kaoran's mind, Neario answered. Telepathic coarse. He's just toying with him while he's doing that. To keep Kaoran distracted so he can't shield himself, and also to let off some anger.

I shuddered when I heard that explanation and Neario laid his arm around me. I leaned my head to his chest for comfort. I felt burning tears in my eyes. "Kaoran, why did you do such a terrible thing?" It had to be more behind than just the regret that I had got the position he had wanted in the attack against the Titans.

My beloved was right, because within a quarter of an hour Zeus spit back Kaoran's secrets into the traitors face and then he handed him over to Hecate and Lu.  
- Finish him off the way you want! I'd like to partake, but unfortunately I haven't got the time. Charon, you come over here!

Charon got the task to disguise himself into Kaoran and then get in touch with Kaoran's Chronite contact and tell him about "The new plans of the Usurper and his gang". Apparently there was a third route that Poseidon had had in mind for entering Merioly: going south through the forests of Aramindor and then by some rather long path through the Norlethian mountains and down into Titan lands. And now the Chronites were going to believe that we had changed course while we really went on as planned.

But it became Demeter and her diversion group who took the Aramindor route and who encountered the Chronites in the woodlands and later in the mountains. There was not many surviving that campaign, Demeter, Eurynome, Nyx and Atlas being some of them.


	8. The Last Battle

**The last battle **

The boat ride across the Indigo Sea proved uneventful. We spent most of the time going through our plans over and over again. Prometheus was working on our covers, Hestia and Helios revived an old affair (at least they slept with each other) and I learned massage from Oiretha, with Neario as my ever-content test object.

Lu had replaced Utargar as a back-up, and Poseidon was given the other back-up task. He was originally to go back with the sea-people on the U-boat, but choosed to stay when we became one person short.

Zeus took an afternoon to share what he knew about those Titans we would encounter in Chronos' capital:  
- These are not like the Chronites you've met so far. They are of stronger material. Even some pure immortals. Do be prepared to meet way stronger resistance from them than you are used to!  
- Zeus, you're scaring us! said Oiretha. Why?

- I'm not. I'm only warning you. I know you nine can deal with these beings. Otherwise I wouldn't have brought you with me. Just be careful and trust your instincts! Then you're all going to make it. I believe in you all. You are my best fighters!  
- And you're... going up against Chronos alone? Themis again.  
- I have to do that, yes, Zeus said. And if he was nervous or even scared he didn't show it.

I looked across the table and into his blue eyes:  
- And we beleive in you, Zeus, I said. You're the best! You're going to beat that Titan freak. And we will all be right behind you cheering.  
- Thanks, Hera, our leader answered. And wasn't he slightly red upon his cheeks? He hadn't put a lid on all his emotions.

Zeus also told the sad story behind Kaoran's betrayal. Apparently the Chronites tricked Kaoran into believing that they were holding his lost love imprisoned and promised her release in return for Kaoran's co-operation. A promise they, of course, were never going to keep.

Neario and I went early to bed and made love like furious. Chaos, I loved that man. He had become my all and everything during these years. So much we had shared, so much we had done together in this war. And now - only a question of days before it could be over. It would be over - one way or another. We had reached the point of no return.

Neario took my face in his cupped hands:  
- Whatever happens, beloved, I will always love you and treasure you. But if anything happens to me, I don't want you to dwell... I want you to go ahead with your life and find new horizons. New opportunities, new love.  
- Nothing's going to happen to you. We are to get out of this alive. Both of us. Then we're going to get that farm and we're going to make the best wine in the region. And we're going to have kids. The house full of happy toddlers. This world lacks gods, and I intend to do something about it.

Neario laughed:  
- I'd be more than happy if you let me help you in that task.  
- Certainly, beloved, there's no such thing as parthenogenesis, whatever those easterners are claiming.  
- What will happen to the Order do you think, when this is over?  
- I'd guess we will dissolve it. What function will it have with the enemy gone? Of course we want to see the others now and then. I can think of hanging around with Hestia and meeting Anzoura and Oroaro now and then.

- What about Zeus?  
- He will certainly be busy with something else. Like forming a superpantheon and ruling the world for instance.  
- I'm sick and tired of pantheons. I was in one once. Too much intriguing, plotting and politics. Of course I miss my family, but I don't miss the concept. So if Zeus is forming a pantheon he won't see Neario in it.  
- I have no experience of pantheons, I suppose it could be a great thing if done right. But if you don't want to be in any, neither am I.

D-day! We were off the boat and on a barren shore before daybreak. A trek through wild forests. Ten persons on the move against thousands. The odds might have looked very much in any favour but ours, but we choose not to think of it. When the sky started to turn gray in the east we were entering a city which looked like Titanopolis' big brother. Everything that had been huge and imposing there seemed almost toylike compared to Chronospolis.

Zeus had employed a secret weapon, a previously unknown trait of his. He controlled the weather. The sky was overcast and the city was swept in a thick fog despite of the season. And the people, gray- or white haired and stocky built Titans most of them, looked like nothing more than shadows if they didn't pass close to us. There were also Homo Sapiens Mortals in Titanopolis, but their status was lesser than slaves, and we didn't see that many.

And no-one was paying attention to our black clad and hooded group, who walked with our heads down, saying nothing. I held Neario's hand, and on my other side walked Lu, his slanted eyes focused into something distant that existed only in his mind.

The Castle. The greatest building I had ever seen back then. I was shivering - not with fear but with the hyperadrenaline I was letting loose. Zeus turned to me, Neario and Helios.  
- Time to climb, Sisters and Brothers. Lu, Hestia and Poseidon, you are to follow five minutes behind. Themis, Prometheus and Oiretha, you are to remain on the ground until further notice. Oiretha, Helios and Hestia, you are best at mindshielding, you do the mindspeach. No one else will break telepathic silence until other others are given. Questions?

No-one had any. And with no further ceremonies the three men and I started to climb the gray walls.

I had done this a million times, sensitive and strong fingers grabbing tiny outcroppings in the concrete, using the levitation trait as little as possibly to not give away any energy-patterns. I had left the hooded robe behind, dressed only in a body suit of khaki-coloured leather, the swords on my back and the guns in the belt. Hair tied back under a scarf and the only protection against enemy weapons my own shielding and healing abilities. The hyperadrenaline kept me alert and coping while the Soul Breathing kept me focused and balanced. At that moment I was aware of nothing in the world except for the gray walls and the climb.

There was less defence than we had expected on the crest. Only a handful of sentries who were gazing into the fog to no avail. They were easily fooled. Not killed, we didn't want to sound any alarms yet. They were just let to believe they had seen nothing but a couple of crows landing on the crest before taking off again.

The next moment we were down in the inner halls of the Castle. Chaos, was that interior decoration terrible or what? I'd never seen so much of the colour gray either before or later in my life. After these days in Merioly I detest that colour. And now we started to mingle with the Titans, slowly piercing through their defence, seeking intelligence of where to find Chronos. No direct questions, only hints combined with extremely careful mindreading.

But the Titan leader found us first.

I don't know from where the energy beam came, but it knocked us all off our feet. Then we were under attack. I, Neario, Zeus and Helios did our best to defend ourselves. Neario and I back to back and on hyperdrive as usual, reading each others mind like open books after all these years, and working like one brute war machine.

But the Titan warriors were far too many, and this was the last defence. The elite troops. The Chronites out on the Central Continent were nothing compared to these people. We would have lost it completely if not Helios' mindcall had gone out so early and if Poseidon, Lu and Hestia hadn't been so quick to engage. It was not until our enemies were defeated that we found that both Zeus and that iron-clad Titan attacker (Who must have been Chronos) were gone. And so was much of the eastern wall.

No reason to hide anymore. Drenched in Titan blood and swords and guns in hands we swept through the hole and after the energy-trails of Zeus and Chronos. I mean, Neario, Hestia and I did that. Poseidon flew down to Themis with Lu and Helios, who were both badly wounded. Oiretha would have to engage in their place. We couldn't risk having Prometheus stepping in yet, he was the one to lead us out whatever the outcome became.

Over the city Zeus and Chronos were battling. And now I saw that superhuman I had been picturing in my mind before I met Zeus. He seemed larger, greater and filled with a strength and energy I hadn't seen before.  
- Stand back, Hera! Neario took my arm. This is their fight. It has to be a duel. That's what the prophecy speaks about._ The Titan Emperor against the God of Thunder. And one shall fall while the other one gathers the energies. And then the world will be forever changed._  
- The world will be forever changed? I echoed. Does that mean Zeus will win?  
- We do not know, Hestia said by my other side. It can also mean that Chronos tightens his control and all immortals of the new race, maybe the complete new race becomes annihilated.

- But we can't let that happen. I was shaking with terror now, while the hyperadrenaline was disappearing from the bloodstream. - Not if we can prevent it. But this battle has to take place the way it is supposed to. Hestia was looking at me and Neario with tears in her beautyful green eyes and then she went on: I guess I have always waited for this moment, looking forward to it with both fear and longing. Yet I never expected to be a spectator of the heralded battle. And now, when I'm here, it seems almost unreal.

The Titans had also come to the same conclusion - to not engage - either with us or with the battling men in the sky. Neario was caressing me from behind, his cheek on my shoulder, and I held Hestia's hand while we watched the fight.

First it seemed like our Zeus was in deep trouble. Chronos was firing and firing these energy beams at Zeus, who seemed to do nothing but ducking while letting off the odd thunderbolt, which usually missed it's target, and when hitting didn't seem to do any real harm.

Then I begun to realise that Zeus was holding back. Performing acrobatics in the sky, spinning and looping in random directions like a dancing butterfly. And he was so incredible fast! Chronos, bigger and heavier, had a hard time to follow his adversary. Instead he managed to drop his helmet while trying to dive after Zeus who somersaulted backwards down under a bridge connecting two buildings. Chronos crashed into it instead, destroying the structure completely.

We saw Chronos chase Zeus several times around an enormous building, but suddenly Zeus was behind the Titan instead, and hit him in the back. Chronos got no chance to duck and his iron armour was engulfed in electric sparkles. But Chronos remained almost unhurt, apparently his armour worked as a Faraday cage, protecting him from Zeus's thunderbolts. And when he turned to fight back Zeus was not there anymore, he had dived under the Titan and was at his back once more and now he aimed at Chronos' unprotected head instead. But this time the Titan managed to duck.

He was screaming at Zeus, urging him to remain still and fight like a man. And Zeus was screaming back, mostly insults concerning Chronos' private parts or ancestors. His voice was ice-cold, rage-less. Zeus knew that Chronos was stronger - in theory. But Zeus was faster, smarter and with a higher aural/mental vibration. What he lacked in raw strength he had acquired in skill, focus-training and self defence methods, like his own invention: the aegis technique.

Now he was employing a straightforward strategy - to tire and anger Chronos until the Titan did a fatal mistake. Like getting so enraged that he let down his defence in an attempt at taking out the enemy. And it looked like Zeus was succeeding.

Until Chronos nuked Zeus. The blast almost blinded me and threw the three of us out of the sky. I crashed down on top of a building, and fell through the roof that broke under the force of my shielding reflexes. I landed three or four stories beneath, among rubble in what must have been some kind of office building.

Neario? Zeus? were my first thoughts. Hestia? The latter I found easily enough, she had fallen down next to me, and was already standing, brushing off dust from her arms and legs. She held out a hand to me. That was the last thing I knew before the heat wave hit us.

When we finally managed to climb out of the ruined building the whole city was on fire and a great mushroom shaped cloud was painting the sky in weird, spooky colours.  
- What the Chaos? said Hestia behind me.  
- Where can the others be? were my first words after the chock.

We found their energy signatures all right. Shocked and confused Warsisters and -Brothers climbing their way out of the ruins. And in the sky Chronos. Had he won? No, he was confused as well. Zeus was hiding somewhere. While we searched out each other, Chronos was looking for Zeus. He took no notice of us, neither of the fact that there seemed to be no surviving Titans anywhere.

- Zeus, where is Zeus? Themis was teary-eyed when we gathered in the harbour, on a big quai structure that seemed oddly intact. Themis was carrying Lu who was apparently fighting for his life. Prometheus, Poseidon and Neario looked almost unharmed while Helios looked pale but halfway healed. Only Oiretha was nowhere to be found.

- He's around, said Poseidon. I even think... The next moment a pillar of water shoot up in the air, hitting Chronos with full force. The Titan was thrown way up in the sky and disappeared for a while until gravity took hold and he came falling down. At the same time Zeus flew up out of the water. He had been hiding beneath the river surface gathering strength after the nuclear blast. We were all cheering at the sight.  
- Go Eagle! Poseidon screamed on top of his lungs.

But Chronos came at Zeus again. This time with some odd energy that grabbed Zeus in mid-air like it was some kind of wringing snake. I saw how this weird energy warped reality around it and drew strength from both Zeus's and Chronos' shielding. Luckily our group was too far away to be affected. But what the Chaos was that creepy force? None of us had seen anything like it before.

The plasmic energy threw Zeus out of the sky and crashed him to the ground. And Zeus, with his weakened shielding, became paled on a tall iron rod that had once been a part of a building. I heard a high sobbing from Themis. Hestia, who had sat down with Helios, hid her face in his arms. But I could not take away my stare. I was enchanted, like a prey against a carnivore.

And Chronos came flying at Zeus with every intent of finish him off where he laid paled like an insect with the iron rod sticking out from his bleeding chest. But Zeus was far from done with. With a forceful gesture he snapped the rod in half, rose and met the Titan.  
- You need attitude adjustment, your castrated repulsivity! he roared at the Titan. You just ruined my best camouflage dress! With those words Zeus threw the rod forwards and up, hitting Chronos between the legs.

- Faith! Themis was wispering by my side. He's healed! He's already healed. This can't be! What is this man I love?  
- He's powerful beyond reason, I heard Neario answer. I'm glad we're on the same side.

The next beat Zeus aimed at the Titan's face, drow the rod like a spear right through his right eye and cracked his skull, enhanching the strike with electricity travelling through the iron. And Chronos nuked. And nuked again. We were blinded by several heat waves, and the rags that had been our clothes burned away.

But after five or six such blasts Chronos was pale and wry, with an ash like colour in what was left of his face, shielding defunct. And Zeus? He came from the sky. Sparkling electricity danced in his hands. Chronos looked up when he heard the clap of thunder as Eagle broke the barrier of sound. And then our leader fired.  
- For my parents! Zeus was screaming. And for all those countless others you killed, Titan bastard!

The Titan became engulfed in fierce electric energy. He sparkled and burned, screaming while his evil brain shortcut. And then he fell. And remained down. Energy signature gone. Dead.

Zeus was levitating a couple of meters over his fallen enemy when we came flying cheering. Themis was first and she threw herself in the arms of her beloved, crying and laughing at the same time. We others landed in a circle, Prometheus now carrying poor Lu.  
- You OK? Poseidon asked.  
- Not really, said Zeus. I was supposed to have a good one-liner for this event, but I can't think of one.


	9. Victory and Tragedy

**Victory and Tragedy**

- An one-liner! Eagle wants an one-liner! Poseidon was laughing. If you beat the crap out of the rest of the Titan sissies you can leave the script-writing to me. I'll come up with something for you in time for your memoirs. But first, let's leave this place before it gets totally haunted.  
- Yes! Zeus was holding Themis while taking in the sight of his haggard Warsisters and -brothers. But where is Oiretha?  
- I'm sorry, we seem to have lost her. Even I can't sense her anywhere, said Prometheus, who was the best one at these things.

- Try again, now when there's nothing that disturbs or distracts you. I'd hate to leave a 'Sister behind, even if I know she can make her way back.  
- I'll do my best. Prometheus pulled his hand through his red curls and squeezed his green eyes tight a moment before focusing in.

Holding our breaths we waited several minutes. Then our intelligence man shook his head.  
- No. She's not around. I'm sorry. And it was I who brought her. I feel so...  
- Don't! Zeus laid a hand on Prometheus' shoulder. It's not your blame to take. It is a war. War causes causalities. She knew that as well as you and I. And this was what she wanted. Fighting side by side with her 'Brothers and 'Sisters until the end, doing what she could do to stop Chronos' grip of terror.

- Zeus? Themis was asking. Why did you chose 10? Against an army? Surely...  
- An army could have done nothing. It was me against him in the end. It had to end this way, there was no alternative. Not since I started this mission at least. There's only one thing I can't understand.  
- What? Neario asked, still holding me.

Zeus gazed out over the smoking remains of Chronospolis. Then he said:  
- I can't understand why this man nuked his city to get at me. Killed his own people.

Lu died that night. I hadn't know how bad it was, but apparently the wiry little Asian's shielding abilities were so damaged that he was killed by the radiation fallout from Chronos' nukes. And we never found Oiretha. Later on she was considered missed in action. But with 10 setting out eight were returning. That was sort of what we had expected - when we had calculated with victory of course.

And without looking back on the radioactive ruins of what had been the Titan capital, we flew out.

Neario and I, last in line, took up singing. One of these insulting songs about Chronites that we used to entertain ourselves with when we had been needing strength and courage over the years. But now it was more the joy of victory that brought melodies in our throats. Hestia jumped in already on the second line. After all it was she who had "written" that simple war song. And soon all of us except for Themis were singing.

But the war was not over with Chronos' death, even if what we had to do now was mostly referred to as "cleaning up". Outside the "thermonuclear perimeter" there were still Titans alive. Titans, fit for fight, who came at us to revenge their fallen leader (or, mostly, just to make trouble). We were engaged several times while on our way home. And it would cost us one more life.

We met a lone flying Titan while crossing Norlethia. We were way up atop the snow-capped mountains, it was cold and the oxygen level was low. Clad in whatever rags we had managed to retrieve from the ruins (Most of the combustible materials had burned in the firestorms after Chronos' nukes.) and flying in triangular formation with Zeus in the lead, we looked more like weird birds than gods. And our attention level was kinda low. Neario and I were talking about our future and the others were discussing other things, when Hestia suddenly screamed:  
- Incoming! West-north-west!  
- Chaos! Poseidon answered.

- Wait with engaging! I'll take this one out by myself! Zeus met the attacker, but Prometheus was not far behind. Zeus threw thunderbolts, but apparently this Titan had a shielding not unlike our own, something we had never encountered before, except for with Chronos. And Zeus's thunderbolts ricocheted against the Titan's shield and burned out in the sky.  
- Fall back, Prometheus! Zeus circled round the attacking Titan and fired again. But Prometheus was still behind our leader and this time the ricochet caught him in the solar plexus, because Prometheus had brought down his own shielding, preparing to fire some energy of his own. He was gifted with some elektrokinetical abilities, but unlike Zeus, he was unable to shield and fire at the same time.

And when Prometheus was hit he fell. At the same time Zeus had managed to get behind the Titan and with his bare hands snap the neck off her instead.

Prometheus was dying. He laid on a snow-clad mountain-slope, almost cut in half, and there was nothing even Themis could do to save the intelligence man. Zeus was holding his hand, tears in his eyes.  
- I told you to stand back. I told you not to engage. But you did not do as I said.  
- Old friend I'm sorry... I'd wanted to... I... I... Eagle, I...  
- I'm sorry too! I should have... I should...  
- Zeus, Neario was saying, there was nothing you could have done.

- Zeus... Ea... Prometheus had a hard time forcing the words out of his mouth because his throat was filled with blood. He was desperately gasping for a last breath with his shattered and failing lungs.  
- Please... he tried again. Eagle, tell Daelona... Tell Daelona I love her...  
- I will, I will, my dear friend.

I'm not sure if Zeus's words reached our fallen comrade. Prometheus' energy signature faded fast and then he was gone too. He died on that mountain, far away from the woman he loved, but at least among friends. Now we were down to seven. And no one said anything while we left the mountain behind us. But today that mountain carries Prometheus' name in honour of a fallen hero.

We met a trio of Titans when we came through the Laograda Canyon, but Zeus took them out even before they realised they were under attack. After that we rested for the night. We talked little while sharing our sparse meal. We had no need for words. Just sitting close and looking into each others eyes seemed enough after all we'd been through.

The next evening we were home. Home in the Order headquarters in Xaliricon, where we had left three weeks earlier. Back to tell the story of the defeat of Chronos over and over again. And back to decent food, clothing, showers and most of all beds. To sleep between clean sheets was paradise, Neario and I soon decided. And for the first time since leaving the U-boat we also got the chance to make love. Chaos, how we both had missed that.

Demeter's group was also back. And they had taken an even bigger loss than we had. Great warriors like Aokas, Hekate, Dereus, Iliteo, Acciran - and also my old friends Anzoura and Oroaro (how I cried over them), had fallen. And in the vacant slots they left other people took place. Like Xurasa, Amon and the easterner Hyperion. Then there was Iris and Isis, those girls everyone mistook for the other one. Isis was a recruit of Amon and Iris a relative of Hestia. But not only were their names similar, they looked like each other too. Thick, wavy black hair, olive skin and large eyes. Iris' eyes were blue though, while Isis' were brown.

Zeus had been 18 when he set out to detronize Chronos. He was now 28. It had taken him 10 years to achieve his goal. I don't know if he expected to "retire" after this long campaign, but it was soon made clear that other people wanted something entirely different from him. Zeus had thrown out the dictator, now he was expected to take up the sceptre and declare himself leader over the realms instead.

And so he did. Zeus began to sketch on a new world. He started with involving people including Demeter, Hestia, Helios, Poseidon and Themis in his planning. Late in the night they were reviving old dreams of democracy and liberty, dreams that had been gone so long that no-one actually remembered what they were all about. We had to invent them anew.

Neario and I sat in at those meetings once in a while, but we were more intent on going on our own. Doing our thing. We were talking about going west, maybe as far as Atlantis or even America, a land that was hardly more than a legend back in these days.

But my heart was split. I wanted to go with Neario – to the end of the world if nessecary. On the other hand, I didn't want to leave all my friends. People I had shared so many experiences with, and had learned to love. People I trusted and relied on. My "family".

- Can't you make your Santorian to stay then? Hestia asked. We were sitting in the living room looking through the large windows at an overcast sky waiting for rain and an unruly gray-green sea. The wind was working on tearing the last yellow leaves off the treas. I was nibbling at some ambrosia, more out of the need to do something with my hands than real hunger.

- Don't you think I've tried? We've been talking about this a lot, the problem is I'm not really sure what I want myself. I want to be with Neario of course. And he don't want to be in a large pantheon surrounded by attention-seeking mortals. He says he has had it with that concept. Too much intriguing, power-games and plotting between the various deities, core-families and fractions. He just wants a little family. Me, himself and a handful of children.

- But a divine family becomes a pantheon after a while, Hestia stated. Since we're immortal we don't loose the older generations, and sooner or later you'd end up with that extended family that branches off in cousins and second cousins and uncles and in-married members of all kinds. It simply – works that way. And you have to learn to co-operate, you can't just run away, because very often you have responsibilities within that pantheon as well as outside in the mortal society co-existing with the pantheon. Of course there's intrigues and scheming, but that appears in all societies. The only way to get away from it is to turn hermit. And I don't think that's what even Neario wants.

- "Becomes a pantheon"? I thought it was officially formed, with rules and a pantheon head and a board and a formal agenda or strive.  
- It's a bit complicated, I know. The pantheon I lived in, before the Titans killed it, was developed organically, out of a core-family, that's true. But it also adopted rules and there was a pantheon head, my sixth-step grandfather, Andos. I guess one day you just realize you have to have some guidelines. Some leadership. And this pantheon head usually becomes someone who's a natural leader.

- Like Zeus?  
- Zeus is a great example. He has the ideas, he can listen and talk to people and solve problems and straighten out disagreements. And he's passionate and fun! People gather naturally around him because of his charisma. We trust him, like him. Only problem is Themis.  
- What about her?  
- She's not that kind of co-leader a pantheon head is going to need. She's smart and clever of course, but there's something about her…She doesn't like people. She doesn't trust people around her, and she seems to judge them too harsh when they err. And she sort of treats everybody like mortals or children.

- You don't like her, I take it.  
- I'm not sure, Hera. She likes me…  
- Everybody like you! You could lead a pantheon too!  
- But not with Zeus. Or perhaps… I mean, a co-leader don't have to be a mate. It can as well be a sister or brother or something. Problem is… Zeus is only a friend. A very good friend of course. It would look strange anyway if I was to become his co-leader. Maybe I'll join your pantheon instead.

- Ours? Ours who?  
- Your and Neario's! I don't care what Neario says about pantheons, you could actually become a leader… no, don't shake your head, Hera, it's true, you have it! You're the organizing kind, you think one step ahead and you're almost as inspiring as Zeus. You and Neario leading a pantheon! Think about it! I might join you, even if I would miss Zeus.

--

Hestia was right, among us remaining in the group around Zeus the embryo of a pantheon was starting to form. A powerful collection of gods and goddesses - perhaps even mightier than Chronos and his league had been. But with an entirely different strive. At that time the remains of the Order had relocated to Thessalia at the Western East Coast and what was going to be the city of Ekarantanni, the large and impressing metropolis beneath the Mount Olympos (which at that time was only a nameless cloud-shrouded mountaintop).

It was Hestia who had known about the house, a large villa overlooking the ocean, yellow-plastered, ivy-covered walls and with a high, sloping red roof. Balconies and terraces, a large patio facing the ocean, and a lot of odd angles and corners. And luckily not that much work needed to make habitable again, there was still some divine spell left keeping it intact.  
- It used to belong to a great-great uncle of mine, Hestia had told. Oleonos, god of oil and petrol. And since I'm the only survivor of the Viraganis pantheon I guess it's mine now. On top of that I think it's big enough for all of us and then some.

Robbed fortunes from Chronite fortresses and other Titan lairs provided us with money when we started these new lifes of ours. Most of it was gold that had belonged to killed immortals and their pantheons or shrines, and the Titans had just piled the stuff up. And ironically it was first now it came in use - in the hands of us "New Gods".

Chasing down the last Titans might have sounded like some kind of an epilogue, but it was harder than it appeared. We suffered losses even those last weeks. One terrible mistake was made when Iris, Daelona, Neario and I were attacking a Titan band hiding in a forest on the Eastern Subcontinent. They turned out to be both plentier and stronger than we expected and both Daelona and Iris took fatal wounds. And when the last Titan standing, the leader, attacked with a kind of nuclear force, not unlike Chronos' blasts, we found ourselves in dire trouble.

- Run Hera! Neario was screaming. Save the girls! I took one look over my shoulder, met the determined stare of my love and then I grabbed the unconscious Iris and Daelona, jumped in the air and took off as fast as I could fly. But behind me I could hear the sound of a large explosion and a blinding light flashed and silhouetted the treetops beneath us in an eerie light. Then I felt the energy signatures behind me disappear. Including Neario's. I turned around.  
- Neario? I screamed. Nothing.  
- Neario! For Faith's sake answer me! Still nothing.

No one was there anymore. The vibrant aura of Neario had vanished completely. At that moment I realised that my love was gone. And never to return.

I felt numb. Darkness in front of my eyes. A big hole in my soul where there had been Neario. My beloved. Dead! Gone. I was alone, lonely. On my own. The entity people had jokingly called Herario was gone. And left was an empty shell still called Hera. No more lovemaking in the late of night. No more future plans involving Atlantis, wine farms and a dozen of toddlers. No more Neario.

I went home, chased the sun as I flew west over the Central Ocean until I reached the Western East Coast. I took the wounded girls to Themis who had no trouble fixing them. But where was I supposed to go with my shattered heart. Oh Neario...


	10. The tears of Hera

**The tears of Hera**

Zeus was talking that night of winning the peace. Of forming something new on the ruins of the old society.  
- Winning the war is one thing. Winning the peace is something entirely different. And for that task we are going to need a new kind of soldier. A new kind of Order. You might have noticed that I have dropped the pre-fix "War" ahead of 'Brother and 'Sister now. That's because the war is all but over, and I want you to think in other terms than war terms. But we still need strategies. Different kind of strategies. Strategies for peace. And that's why I wanna dispose of the Blue Gold. To start something new. I want you all to...

At that moment I couldn't listen anymore. I felt like I was suffocating. I had to be out of the room immediately. I left my place between Hestia and Atlas and made my way through the gathered group and through the glass doors to the terrace. Here it was dark and a salty wind came blowing in from the Central Ocean and played with the wind-chimes hanging from the vine-covered wooden beams that formed a roof over the terrace. A thin moon-crescent was hanging low over the black water.

I sat down on a stool with my head against the rail and felt with relief the tears coming to my eyes. Neario... Beloved... Why? So pointless. When the war was almost over too. I don't know how long I sat there, it felt like hours, but the moon did hardly move in the sky. Inside music started, and I heard laughter and people singing along in a happy tune. That was not my place anymore...

- Hello pretty one! I looked up at the shadow who suddenly blocked the lights inside. A tall man. Blond, short-cropped hair, but I couldn't really make out his features, my eyes were too blurred by tears. But that didn't matter. Everyone would recognise that aura. Zeus.  
- Hi... I said.  
- Sitting all by yourself out here in the dark, Zeus continued. Why is that?  
- Guess I want to be by myself.

- Because of the tears? I didn't answer and he continued: I'm so sorry for you. Neario was a very special person. I'd love to have seen you two happy together. But there was nothing anyone could do. He chose to give his life to save others. He and his deed will be remembered and honoured as well as all the other ones who died for us over the years.  
- I loved him.

- I know. I wish I could comfort you in a better way than just... Hera, little 'Sister, words are so insufficient. With that sentence he sat down next to me and took me in his strong arms, held me like I was a child and I cried in his embrace. Cried over Neario, over our lost love and over all the other people who had died in this terrible terrible war that was finally over. And I realised that there were so many tears stuck inside of me that just had to come out. Tears I had been holding back since I don't know when.

Zeus said nothing all the time while I wet his tunic and clung to him like I would take a lethal fall if I didn't hold on. And when I was dried up inside the only thing I heard was his steady heartbeats blending with the crashing of the breakers against the rocks beneath us.  
- Can I get you a glass of Nectar or something? he offered at last.  
- No, just stay with me, Zeus! I'm... I'm so confused. And so lonely. I don't know what I'm gonna do now. I was a warrior, that's the only thing I can.  
- No, you're more than that, Hera. There are things inside of you just waiting to be brought forth. And we have a world to rebuild. In that quest every good hand is needed.

- But I'm not... I mean... Neario and I had so many plans. But none of them included staying with the rest of you. We wanted to do something that was our own. Our creation. And now I feel so empty inside, because I have no sense of direction anymore. It's not like it was Neario who took the lead and made all the plans, it's just that... that...  
- It was you together. I know. It takes two to dance. And now you feel like you've been abandoned on the dance floor.

- Yeah, I guess you're right, but...  
- There are many more dancers, Hera. We are dancing a group dance now, we who once was the Order of Blue Gold. And we need more people out on the floor. I'm not asking you to dance already at this time, but when you feel like joining, we'd be more than happy to have you in. I'd be happy, Hera. You have come to be a very valued friend to me over the years. I need you wit, your brain and most of all your friendship.

I said nothing, just met his eyes.  
- Life goes on, Hera. But I understand you have to stop it for a while. Take your time to do that. Take your time to come to terms with the fact that the war is over, your beloved is not with you anymore and that you need to redefine yourself in one way or another. And when you feel the need to talk, I'll be there to listen.

After some moments of silence I spoke up again:  
- Can I just ask you one thing?  
- Go ahead!  
- Why that name? The Order of Blue Gold I mean. What made you call it so?

- It was in honour of a person who died early in the war. My mother, Rhea. She had those shining blue eyes and reddish blond hair, and people called her Blue Gold. She gave her life to save me and Demeter. And her best friend, Amalthea, kept us hidden until we were strong enough to cope on our own. It wasn't a long time after that we teamed up with my childhood best friend Poseidon and formed what would became this Order, and started out to revenge mother and all the rest the Titans had murdered.  
- And your father?  
- His name was Zaioran. I never knew him. He was murdered even before I was born. I don't even know his origin, only that he came from the West. Probably from as far as Erytheia or even Atlantis.

- So he wasn't Demeter's father then?  
- No, that was a man named Naleuzes. Also killed. I have wague memories of him though. A strong man with black, flying hair. Brave and honest. Wanted to heal the world. Guess I got a lot inspiration from him without even knowing it.

- My father… He did the same thing as your mother. Died to save me. Zeus touched my cheek, dried away a sole tear.  
- I guess that makes us connected in one more way then. Almost like a real sister and brother. Offspring to this war.  
- I wish I could tell him now that… that the war is over and I'm alive.  
- Hera, in a way I almost think – he knows. As do my mother.

We talked a bit more, mostly about insignificant things, and then Atlas, Nyx and Amon came out on the terrace and Zeus had to pay attention to them.

I went to bed, fearing that I would not be able to sleep, but sleep came - and with sleep nightmares. I was back in Merioly, but now it was Neario battling Chronos in the sky. Zeus was nowhere to be found. And Chronos became victorious, chrushing my love with his nuclear blasts. And I woke up terrified, soaked in sweat and with cold shivers travelling through my spine. Semiconscious I reached for Neario until I realised he was not there. (something I would do over and over again in the years to come). And I had waken up to another nightmare. The life without Neario.

Months passed and I was walking like a zombie. I could not parttake in battle anymore, and there was not that much battling left anyhow. I say things happening around me without really registrating them. Zeus's and Themis' wedding. People like Daelona left us. She set out to find some gods in the South-East that was her family. She had also lost her love, her Prometheus, and only too late did I realise I should have sought her out, so we could help each other cope with our mutual loss.

Amon and Isis left with Isis' brother Osiris to form a pantheon on the Southern Continent. Atlas did also leave. He took residence in a high mountain resort on the same continent. But there were also new arrivals. Some wanted to help with Zeus's New World Order, others was just curious or longing for company. (At that time we were so few, I believe there were less than 150 known immortals left in the entire world.)

One of these new faces was Iapetos. The charming and skilled Akarnaiyan arrived with his sixteen year old daughter Pleione. And we got another of these horrible but oh so familliar stories from him. Pleione's mother Clymene had been killed by Titans together with all the other family Iapetos had had.

Another one was Astraios, the old protector of Thessalia, who had been in hiding for years and years, disguised as a mortal. He was almost crying with relief when finally meeting people of his own kind. And he was humble and mighty impressed with Zeus.  
- I was a coward, running for my life while you saved the world. Hope you'll accept my company anyway.  
- We're welcoming all good people out there, was Zeus's answer. Maybe you're better skilled for peacetime work.

There was also intrigues taking place. Intrigues of that kind Neario had detested, but which I in a way found interesting. And somehow they managed to wake me out of my apathy. I started to take interest in my surroundings again when Hestia and Iris came to me and complained that they feared being manoeuvred out by people like Eurynome and Demeter.

And all was not well with Zeus and Themis. One night I was waken up by risen voices.  
- I know all about it! Themis screamed. Xurasa told me.  
- It's not the way you think. Zeus's voice. Or the way Xurasa thinks either. Leto and I...  
- I don't care to hear another good explanation from you. I know very well what you have been up to. I know why Isis left. You broke her heart. And now it seems that you are out to do the same to me.

- Themis, you are the one that I love. Isis was a mistake.  
- And Leto?  
- Nothing happened with Leto. She was just in need of someone to talk to. To hold her.

I could not help enhanching my hearing when their voices were lowered. Leto was a new arrival. The tall, stunning lady with the long, black hair had been in hiding, the last survivor of a diminutive pantheon on one of the many islands in the Central Ocean. And now she came here out of a longing to meet new people of her kind.

- Like Hera? I heard Themis sneer.  
- Just like Hera.  
- Don't look so terrible innocent! Don't you think I have seen the way you keep looking at her sometimes when you don't think anyone takes notice.

Chaos! Me?

- Themis, I don't know what's the matter with you, but I ask you to come out of it as quick as possible before both you and I are starting to hurt each other. Hera is a friend who I have known longer than you have been in my life. She has lost her dear Neario. Her heart is broken. And you, honey, are being paranoid just because I made a mistake with Isis.  
- A mistake? Is that what you call it? A mistake? I think you and I are having a quite different perspective on...

That was it. I went back to normal hearing again. Zeus had been sleeping around. With Isis and probably with that Leto woman too. And now Themis was seeing ghosts in daylight. Certainly Zeus didn't hold any interest in me except as a dear friend. Or did he...? I wasn't so sure I wanted to find out.


	11. Powergames

**Powergames**

- Honestly, Eagle, I don't know. I looked at Zeus who was standing in front of me at the patio. He was dressed in a short, crimson-red tunic of silk decorated with golden square-patterns around the cuttings, so different from these tough and durable leather coveralls he had been wearing during the war.

- What is it you have heard then, Hera? he asked with a serious look upon his handsome face, blue eyes filled with thoughts.  
- It's just that I've been talking to Hestia, and she feels that Eurynome is "out to get her" in a way that sounds rather strange to me. But I believe her. Hestia is my oldest friend. Now, with Neario gone, there is no-one closer to me than her. So of course I trust her. And on top of that - Iris is backing her up.  
- But what about Eurynome?  
- What do you mean?  
- You have only one side of the story here. Have you talked to Euri?

- No, what should I say to her? "Why are you telling Zeus and Demeter lies about Hestia and her businesses in Derianda"?  
- You could put it a bit more diplomatic, my dear.  
- I... Zeus had suddenly come to stand so incredible close. He took my chin in his hand.  
- You're smarter than that. You're smarter than involving yourself in girls' scheming against each other. He leaned even closer to my face. That's why I...

- Zeus! What are you up to? Themis' voice. Zeus let go of me and backed off fast. But not fast enough apparently.  
- So that's your very good old friend. The way Themis said friend made me feel quite uncomfortable. I turned around and picked up my cloak hanging over a chair.  
- I'll think about what you said, Eagle. My voice was barely heard.

I put on the cloak, preparing to leave but Themis didn't let me off the hook.  
- Is it cold suddenly, when Zeus is not holding you? I suddenly realised I had never heard her using the "Eagle" nickname.  
- It's cold because it's late in the evening, I answered her. And early in the spring. So I'm going inside for supper.

I turned around with as much dignity as I could bring up. Behind me I heard them start to scream at each other. Themis' high pitched voice going staccato against Zeus's mellow deepness, that Cretan accent shining through even more when he got upset. None of them even bothered with the fact that I or anyone else might overhear.

Neario and I had never screamed at each other that way. Oh, we had been way pissed off with each other hundreds of times over the years. Over leaving open flanks, forgetfulness, broken promises, who took the last soap without getting more and all those other stupid things people fight about. But not outrageous like this... On the other hand, Neario had never tried to kiss another girl.

Suddenly I realised that this was the first time in days I was thinking of Neario. It had been almost a year since his death and where there used to be a deep pain in my chest was now just a numb trobbing. The wound was healing. Slowly. But healing. It would leave a scar in my soul, but I could live with that. Zeus has been right, life must go on.

Hestia's problem on the other hand - now that was an entirely different business. Apparently she was "collecting faithfuls" in the town of Derianda 25 kilometres south of here, mostly with helping with a housing project for war refugees. And somehow she had managed to step on a toe of Eurynome. Eurynome was under the impression that Derianda was "hers", but she couldn't (or didn't dare to) confront Hestia directly over that town. Instead she had been sabotaging for and back-talking my friend for months now.

And after a while Hestia had understood what was going on, mostly because Iris had been making observations. So Hestia tried to confront Eurynome, who of course had denied everything. And then Hestia talked to me and to Zeus and Zeus asked me what the Chaos was going on, because he had of course heard a completely different story, travelling via Demeter and up to his ear. And his sister was backing Eurynome, because they were old friends.

So I spent some time talking to Zeus about the issue, asking him to talk to both Hestia and Eurynome at the same time. But it had been hard to get his co-operation, because I was biased to Hestia. Instead Zeus had tried to play his games with me. And I feared I had made a powerful enemy in Themis by that. So now what?

I could always try to talk to Eurynome. She knew nothing about my involvement in this story yet. Already the same evening I sought her out and told her what Hestia had said and that I wanted her opinion too.  
- Why should you want that? The petite girl with the long, curly black hair looked up at me where she was sitting behind her desk.  
- Because I'm curious. And because I think there could be a solution here.

- How can that be? Me leaving Derianda you mean?  
- No, isn't that town big enough for the two of you? (That expression wasn't a cliché back then.)  
- It's mine! I don't want Hestia there. She grabs at everything. I have no chance when she comes sweeping in. Blond, shining, beautiful and powerful - she looks every way what a goddess should. The mortals adore her! And then there's me. Tiny and insignificant.

- So that's your problem then?  
- What?  
- You're underestimating yourself because of your looks. Well, let me tell you something, Eurynome, looks are superficial. Especially when it comes to godhood. If you give the people down there a hand for real and care about them it would be no doubt that you have as much right to be there as Hestia.  
- Oh, Chaos!  
- No, I'm speaking the truth here. Eurynome, stop this pointless fighting with Hestia and try to co-operate with her instead.  
- Rather with some Titan to be honest.

- Can I make one suggestion then?  
- Go ahead!  
- Meet me at the patio tomorrow morning 2 hours after sunrise!  
- Why?  
- Just do it. Then I promise to stay out of your business.  
- If you put it that way, Hera. Just one thing. If you try to set me up against Hestia and her shadow Iris, I...  
- No, I'm not. Honest!

Next door-knock was at Hestia's place. She was preparing to go to bed, and I heard someone was there with her, so I put it short:  
- Meet me at the patio tomorrow morning 2 hours after sunrise!  
- Why? What's up?  
- Things... You'll see. Now enjoy Helios or whoever you have in there, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Zeus was usually taking his breakfast at the patio two hours after sunrise. Fortunately he was alone today too. No Themis to interfere. He sat there in the shadow with his cup of cocoa, some fruit and the morning papers. Birds were feeding from crumbles of bread on the ground. Their chirping together with the fountain were the only things heard. Zeus looked up when Eurynome and I came over to him.  
- What can I do for you girls?  
- Listen to us. There will be one more soon.  
- Hmmm. I think I know what you're getting at... I was right, there's Hestia too.

My friend hesitated in the shadow beneath the pillars. I called her over with a wave of my hand.  
- Now you tell your Derianda story, Hestia and then Eurynome tells her. And then you have to solve this, Zeus. There is no other way. Both Hestia and Eurynome seemed to have doubt in my idea first, but Zeus gave them no retreat.  
- OK, Hestia, he said. You first!

Thus Zeus got both Hestia's and Eurynome's story. The goddesses sounded like they were talking about two different things. But somehow Zeus managed to find the core beneath all that talking and someway, believe it or not, he solved the problem. Hestia could go on with her housing project, but she must accept that Eurynome was in the town too. And Eurynome must accept Hestia's presence.  
- You don't have to co-work. You don't even have to like each other. But let the mortals be the judge of which goddess they prefer. Each and every mortal there is. No majority decision of keeping one and throwing the other out, girls!

Zeus had but finished his last sentence when Helios came striding up to us with his arms full of old books and notes.  
- Eagle, glad I found you! Themis said you'd be here. I'll need some help with this construction of an election system. I've been thinking about representation based upon population and...  
- What is this? Zeus looked up, has my breakfast become some kind of general audience hour?  
- Since you're being so predictable, I guess it has, said Hestia. Everyone knows where and when to find you during these morning hours.

He laughed at that, Eagle, and I guessed he liked being trusted and turned to for help.

--

- I've lost Leto. Hyperion held out his hands and looked devastated, and we all bursted out in laughter.  
- Again? Poseidon called out.  
- Yeah, again. The tall man tore a slender hand through his jet-black, short-cropped hair, gazed upon us with resigned, black eyes and sighed. A beautiful, pregnant goddess, she shouldn't be that hard to keep track on, one thinks. And I used to be one of the better trappers in the Darkfalcon guerrilla. But she's.. I don't know.

- Call her back, admit your defeat, Pery! Poseidon said. I don't think we have to take this so serious anymore. War's almost over, and the Titans left out there are all hideaway cowards anyhow.  
- Leto's an expert hider, Hestia pointed out. She can disguise everything, even her aura. I wonder if even Zeus would be able to find her if she chooses to stay hidden.

I could only agree, I had played tracing games with Leto several times, and she was always the one you lost. She could blend into nature or hide in crowds of mortals. The last stunt was probably the most impressing one. I had gone with her on an undercover mission once, and suddenly she had been – simply gone! I learned later that I had actually looked right at her, but without seeing her.

Leto had shown me her trick then. From one second to another the radiant, beautiful goddess had turned into a plain-looking mortal. Not ugly, just – anonymous. Her dark hair loosing its shine, her skin becoming grey and pale and sorta saggy, her lips less rosy and her eyes loosing their normal glint. She had lost her stature too, and appeared shorter and less prominent. But that was far from all. Her natural charisma had disappeared, and her aura had dulled to those grey-white rays mortals have.

- Absolutely amazing! I had exclaimed. It's still Leto, but yet – not you! No wonder Zeus want to use you as a secret agent. Hiding godhood from mortals is no big deal, but I have never met one before who could hide it from other immortals.  
- Yeah. I never thought it to be a useful trait before, Leto said and became herself again. But it saved my life when the Titans came. They never saw me.

--

- We have something to talk about you and I, said Themis.  
- Like what?  
- Zeus.  
- What about him?  
- You leave him alone. He's mine, western girl!  
- Sorry, Themis, but he is the one who won't leave me alone. I'm not the slightest interested in him. We just talked out there at the patio the other day, and then he tried to kiss me. He tries to kiss everyone, so how odd is that?

- He's not "kissing everybody".  
- Yes he is. Suddenly I felt like being really mean. And it's more to it than that. What do you think happened between him and Eurynome? And who do you think is the father to Leto's expected child?  
- Hera, that's a dire accusation against my husband.  
- Yes, but no less true.  
- How do you know?  
- Leto told me. And everyone knows about Eurynome.

At that moment Themis sat down her glass so hard it broke and the wine ran out on the table. And then she proved that she could be mean too.  
- And you are only trying to move focus away from yourself, Hera. You have probably been interested in Zeus since in Merioly, when you saw all the power he possessed. And that was probably what drove poor Neario into his death. He knew he could not compete with Zeus. He knew he was going to loose you so he...  
- Shut UP! Your miserable... If you think such things of Neario, then you don't have much faith in people. And then I understand that Zeus choose other women beside of you.  
- I'm not thinking anything of Neario. I hardly knew him. It's you that I'm considering. Now you stay away from Zeus or I'll have you regret it!

- I am staying away from him. Get of my back, Themis!  
- I hope I won't have to say this anymore then.  
- You won't if you just pay attention to what I said. I'm not interested in Zeus in that way. He's a friend, more like an older brother if anything. And it hasn't got anything to do with Neario or no Neario. It has to do with me, who want to keep a friend but have no need for a lover at the moment.


	12. The Mistake

_A short chapter this time. But sort of a turning-point in the story. I've also gone back a few chapters and corrected some spelling misstakes, nothing altered in the story though.  
Thanks to Smiling Eyes and all other rewievers. Keep them coming!_

**The mistake **

OK, I can of course blame what happened on too much wine. But that's a lousy excuse, I know it is. But it did happen, and there's no way to make it undone.

I slept with Zeus. Yeah, that's what this stupid girl did. In spite of all the high held moral I've been carrying around since my loss of Neario. But I guess I tired of being the mourning widow in the eyes of myself as well as others, and thus stepped over the line. But I could have chose someone of the others. Like Hyperion, Helios or Poseidon. Or even Iapetos. But no - I had to go for Zeus. Or, more accurate, to let him seduce me.

It was the Summer Solstice and as always with Summer Solstices a great reason to have a party. We were also celebrating the official forming of the New Pantheon. The new organisation to replace the old Order, which actually had been in a defunct status for more than a year now anyhow. And as usually with these events, there was a lot of food, beverages, music and all kind of stuff.

I don't know where I want to back the tape to, but guess it started with the indecent dancing Hyperion and I were doing. He was so much fun that old god. Always full of tricks and jokes. And we got along in a friendly kind of way. I guess that's why I dared to dance the way I did with him. He and I were no more than friends and content with that at the moment. And I knew that if he or I had wanted something more we would have made sure the other one wanted the same before trying ahead.

But soon I was stolen away from Hyperion by Zeus. And he wanted to do the same thing as Hyperion. And more than that. Before I knew it he was all over me. I started to push him away, cheeks burning and mind spinning. I felt that if I didn't stop this it could end anywhere (which it actually did). But Zeus wasn't taking no for an answer. Not on the dancefloor at least. He was doing things that not even Neario had done to me in public places.

- Please, Zeus, you're making a fool of yourself, I whispered to him while I was trying to get his hands out from under my top. And of me. And what's Themis going to say?  
- Oh, don't worry about her, she's already too drunk to care.  
- Zeeeus! I'm not that drunk. Please...

- Come on! Don't be such a... Neario's been gone for a year now, and you need to get a life, Cutie.  
- But not on the expense of Themis. Don't...  
- Oh, we can do it out here if that feels better. And before I knew it we were off the dancefloor and out on the very same terrace where I had cried in his arms that night for what felt like a million years ago. The night Neario died.

There he started to kiss me like no-one had kissed me before. Not even Neario to be true. He had always been careful, tender. Not hot, nearly violent like Zeus. And in spite of everything I found myself almost liking it. But I still resisted, trying to get away. But more and more half-hearted. And then he kissed again. Holding me close. Whispering things in my ear, where "Chaos knows I always wanted to do this with you" was the most printable thing. More, and deeper kisses. He tasted like cinnamon. Then he was kissing my neck and further down. We were alone out here with the ocean and the windchimes, and my defence melted away like an ice cube in the sun. I started to kiss back, started to caress him instead of pushing him away.

- That's more like it. His voice was husky/hoarse, his lips against my breasts, his hands somewhere along my equator. And I was burning with strange, tingling emotions all over my body. I started to whisper his name over and over again, and in response he lifted me up and carried me down the marble stairs and into the garden. He took me on a slope against the ocean, and I have a fuzzy memory of calling out Neario's name while I came. But I'm not really certain of anything until I snapped out of it and found Eagle lying beside of me, gazing at the stars with a satisfied look on his face.

I sat up.  
- What did I just do?  
- Had a good time. I can tell that, even if your ex is still on your mind. But I don't care. It will fade.  
- Fade?  
- I know human nature. More than you can ever guess, Cutie.  
- I'm sorry, but I never intended this to happen.

Zeus sat up too.  
- Don't be sorry, Hera! Rejoice instead! Rejoice in the fact that you are "cured"! That you can enjoy life once again. That you can partake in the wonderfulness that is available to us.  
- Zeus, I... I...  
- Hush, pretty one! He laid a finger on my lips, but I rose and started to run away, desperately trying to arrange my clothes to make them look at least a bit decent.

Behind me I could hear Zeus's laughter and I felt so ashamed. I had done the unthinkable. I had betrayed not only Neario's memory but also proven Themis right, that I was not in control of myself. And I had also betrayed Zeus in a way. And our friendship. At that moment I felt like nothing but a looser in the big game that was human interaction. And I realised that I must get away from New Pantheon before it became common knowledge that I had stepped over the line with our leader.


	13. Leaving the pantheon

_Thanks to Archer Yi and Tokyobabe for the nice reviews!_

**

* * *

Leaving the Pantheon **

- But why? Hestia looked at me with puzzled green eyes.  
- Because.  
- That's not an answer.  
- Something happened.  
- Where? Here at New Pantheon?  
- Yes, here at New Pantheon.

- Someone did something to you? Said something to you? Hera, you don't have to leave because someone...  
- I did something. A mistake.  
- What?  
- Let's just say I screwed up. Big time. And now I have to leave before... Well, there are certain people I don't want to see right now.  
- Hera, what happened? What did you...  
- Hestia, I might tell you later. But at the moment I don't feel like talking about it.

- Please, I'm your friend. I won't tell anyone. Promise.  
- Promise! Not even to Iris.  
- Especially not Iris. I love her dearly but she's too talkative, especially after a few glasses of wine.  
- OK... To cut a long story short... I slept with Zeus.

Oddly enough Hestia didn't look that surprised. She only said:  
- Recently?  
- At the Solstice party.  
- Hahaha! Welcome to the club, lassie!  
- You mean you...

- You see, we had an affair long time ago. That was even before you came to the Order. And then - just for old times sake - you know when you came knocking about the Derianda meeting back in Plow Month. Zeus was the one with me then. We took a chanse because Themis was away. That was why I felt so bothered the next day out at the patio. Not because of Eurynome.  
- You're... Themis'll have your head.

- Well, you know, it's her own fault. Don't you think she's been sleeping around too?  
- With whom?  
- Helios. And that Thuridos guy. She actually brought him here as a plaything by the way. To get back on Zeus I guess, only that he doesn't seem to care. For him sex is not a big deal. It's like having a drink with someone. I don't really respect that attitude, but it's not exactly my business.

- It doesn't really matter. I don't feel like staying here anyway.  
- Hera listen, sooner or later you're going to have to comfront Zeus. And if you just run away now instead of facing him it's going to be way harder when it eventually will happen. I say go talk to him now! It's going to feel awkvard, I know, "been there done that". But better do it now and get over with it.

- What am I going to say?  
- Tell him how you feel, that's all!  
- But I don't know how I feel! I don't know why this happened, why I did it with Zeus of all people. And right now I almost hate him!

- Oh, cut the crap! You don't hate Zeus! Far from it, because then you hadn't hesitated a second before crashing the door to his office throwing that passion in his face. So tell me, you never had a desire for Zeus?  
- No, not really. But… when I was a little child I always wished I had big brother. Someone to turn to, to talk to. Ask questions. My dad never really got the time. And Zeus… In a way he became that big brother to me during these last years.  
- That's one of his qualities. His empathy, his ability to listen and understand. Now off talk to him. Talk from your heart, Hera! You'll know what to say when you're there. And until you do it's going to eat at you!

So I went "crashing the door to his office" as Hestia had expressed herself. Zeus was hardly looking surprised when I faced him, told him how I felt about what had happened and that I was leaving.  
- I'm sad you're seeing it that way, Hera, he said when I was finished. Calm and relaxed he sat with his feet on his desk, regarding me with a thoughtful expression.

- You're _sad_? I echoed, probably looking all consternated. You're not troubled by a bad conscience or something?  
- No. Because you needed that release. You needed to bring your heart back into this life again and stop consider yourself as a sad war victim.  
- Don't try to tell me you slept with me for my sake! Like it was some kind of remedy!  
- No, the other way around. You slept with me because you needed that remedy.

- Oh, stop seeing yourself as a gift to women! I'm sick of you! Goodbye Zeus. I am leaving.  
- See you around cutie! When you're over it the door to this pantheon is here open for you.

I wrote notes for Hyperion, Leto, Helios and Iris and then I took farewell of my oldest friend. We hugged hard and long, Hestia and I, and we were both crying, but she didn't ask me to reconsider anymore. What I had told Hestia was true. I held no respect for Eagle anymore. He behaved like a big kid in a toy store, the calculating and caring hero from Merioly completely gone. He had taken my friendship and deep respect for him and misused it in a way that left me with only sadness in my heart.

First I didn't really know where I was going. I had my bags packed and I jumped on the first train out from Ekarantanni station. It happened to be bound for Larissa and that gave me the idea to seek out Ningari, my home village. It had been more than ten years since I left, I was a completely different person now. The scared little Hera who had ran away head over heels was gone. She had been replaced by a tough warrior who had beaten down Titans in dousens without blinking an eye.

Perhaps Ningari needed a protecting deity. Perhaps Ningari would celebrate the fact that Hakonos' daughter was returning. Perhaps... Somewhere burned a vain hope that my father in spite of everything was still alive. A hope I didn't even dare to utter aload.

But there was no home anymore. No dad. No Ningari. Where I had grown up were just ruins that nature was slowly starting to claim back. My childhood home had become tumbled-over pillars covered in ivy and a lone wall with gaping holes where there had been stained-glass windows. Some red and blue shards still laid on the bricked ground in front of the wall, glittering in the sunlight like fake gems. The tree-swing was reduced to a tattered rope and there wasn't a trace of the little pond where I had used to bath on hot days. The only thing remaining was the pommegranate-tree, carrying an abundance of ripe and sweet, red fruits. I filled my backpack with as many of them as possible.

Apparently the village had been destroyed and burned down some six or seven years ago. When I started to do inquiries in Larissa I found out that the Chronites had ruined the village completely in search of some immortals hiding there, and in their raid killing all the inhibitors. Ningari was no more. It was all gone. So now I was completely alone.

But instead of feeling sad I felt almost relieved. I had no obligations anymore. I could start anew somewhere else. What was it Zeus had said - to redefine myself. I guess it was time for me to start doing that now. Hera the warrior, the Flying Girl had to be disposed of. And be replaced with something new. Something more fit for peacetime needs.

I took out a map over the Central Continent and decided my next move by throwing a coin over my shoulder. It landed on Argos. (I don't know what I'd done if it had landed on Ekarantanni, but luckily it didn't.) So Argos it became. And I knew someone in Argos too. Cheiron, a man from the Order who had left and went out on his own at the moment the war was officially declared over.

Cheiron was known as the tamer of horses, he was incredible with those animals, it was almost like he became one with them when he mounted them. An unusualtelepathic ability I presume. I had no illusions of a heartily welcome, but the horse-man might at least offer me a hint of of how to get a life in Argos. Time to jump on a train again!


	14. Cheiron

**Cheiron**

I remember those train rides across the continent almost like they had happened yesterday. This was the first time I really got a chance to look at the world outside, and see what this long war had done to it. There were deserted houses that had been peoples homes and there were destroyed factories, roads and bridges, ruins of farms with burned down fields as well as abandoned temples of dead gods. And large refugee camps filled with mortals with sad eyes. Who to help them? I wondered, also getting tears in my eyes.

There were empty wastelands of what had once been metropolitan areas but also towns and cities starting to rise from the ashes. The Lakvidian tunnel had caved in (if it was because of the war or an earthquake I do not know) and the train had to go a long roundabout way on temporary tracks instead. But where the big junction Delphi lies today I saw the light of hope being born with the advent of a returning oracle, hailed as a sign that the gods were still alive and would be back one day.

Yes, we would, if we only knew where to start the process of healing and rebuilding. And if we could do it without fighting among each others. I felt shame burning on my cheeks, were we really worthy calling ourselves gods?

I also remember the trains and their passengers. The coaches as well as the engines were mostly old and worn with colouring pealing off, the filling escaping through holes in the seat fabric and with broken windows. And on top of everything this ever-lasting smell of engine-smoke, garlic, floor polish and human sweat. The passengers looked worn as well. Even the young ones. And I felt stared at even if I had hidden my godship and travelled incognito.

Only once did I show my true self, and that was at Argos Central Station. I saw this woman beating up her child, and no-one was doing anything to stop her! And finally I couldn't take it anymore, but comfronted her as a goddess:

- Listen, young girl, I'm Hera! One of the few remaining goddesses, and I demand you to stop this act of abuse immediately. Your child is small and depending on you. He is your responsibility. Rise him with care! This world has just come out of the most terrible war, and the very last thing it needs is more violence. So don't pass it on to the next generation! Teach your child peaceful and honourable solutions instead, or we will be back in the violent times again sooner than anyone knows it.

The woman was staring at me in awe, catching her breath and I stared her down a bit before I finished, now aiming at the handful of gathered listeners:  
- Remember this, I said, children are vulnerable and easy adopters of their parents ideas. If we teach them violence as a way of solving problems, they too are going to use violence to handle their conflicts. But if we instead give them other working tools, peaceful ones, we'll teach them that there are better way to reach solutions than beating up other people.

I made sure that my words had hit home, at least somehow, before I let myself disappear in a wisp of a cloud - an impressing "turning invisible"-technique I've picked up from Demeter.

But that have been the words of Zeus spoken through my mouth. I realised I had become so affected by him, so saturated with all his ideas over the years that I was almost thinking just like him. Another reason for getting away. I wanted my own ideas, even though I agreed on every word about not using violence against little children.

I saw no other immortals during these long tours. And what reason did they have for using trains by the way? They could fly much faster than these old choo-choo's. And they had no Zeus to hide their energy tracks from. But I had decided that Zeus should not be able to find out where I was going, and thus used trains. I felt like I couldn't stand seeing his face at the moment. And even if this meant to give up friends like Hestia, Hyperion, Iris and Leto it was necessary. For me Zeus and his New Pantheon was a closed chapter.

Argos was to become the next chapter in my life though. Argos, located on the river banks of Gerdya, was at that time a middle-sized town with about 200 000 inhibitors, gaining its income from the port and tourism to the hot spring spas at the northern edge of the town. These springs were connected to the old volcano Diro.

Diro had had an incarnated god warding the town as well as keeping the mountain under control. But he, like so many others, had become a victim of the Titans, and now the mountain looked sad and lonely when you entered the town via the east-bound railway. Like that poor volcano was actually missing its keeper. (At that time we had no knowledge about quantum-base-connections between dead and living things and how incarnations actually worked. We only knew that it did work, that some deities were born intimately connected to powerful natural phenomenas and forces.)

Cheiron lived in a part of Argos called Western Ground. I mindcalled ahead, and not only was he surprised, he was really pleased to have me coming, and he gave me directions. Tram 12 was going to take me from the train station and almost to his very door.

I waited and waited by that stop. Trams arrived with all kinds of numbers except for twelve. If this had been a casino I'd been broke. Now I only felt irritated and hungry. And there - suddenly a tram with the number 12. Well not one - four at a time. Talk about priority to these Argosites, someone please!

It became a pleasant surprise. The blackhaired, slender man with the almost boyish look was more than happy to see an old Warsister again. We hugged and cheek-kissed and then Cheiron served me dinner. We sat in his living room while the rain was falling outside and talked about old times. Cheiron wanted to know what had become of all the people in the order. So I told him everything about New Pantheon and the people I had left behind. Cheiron tried to comfort me when I told him about Neario's death, but I told him he didn't have to. Then he had a good laugh at some things and was surprised about others.

- I heard of some tries to form a pantheon in Thessalia, but we don't get that many news here. It's all about local bickering.  
- And you live here as a mortal I have come to understand.  
- Yeah, rising race horses. There is already a god. A certain Erebus. And you don't challenge him if you know what I mean. He claims to be one of the few remaining aristocrats. Older and more powerful than Zeus and those new gods.

- So he's an aristocrat, eh? Do you know which house he claims being from, this Erebus? I asked Cheiron.  
- No idea... And frankly I don't give a fly's crap. I have never been impressed by the aristocrats. Not back in the Order and not now. There weren't that many in the Order by the way. Your Neario was one of course and then this incredibly strong man Poseidon said could carry a planet on his bare shoulders if he wanted. What was his name again?  
- Atlas.  
- He was Dorian if I remember correctly, but he never made a fuzz about it.

- No, you're right. He's very down to earth. He and his cousins Eurynome and Metis are the only Dorians left by the way. And then there's a Lakonian and some Achaians and Ayonians around. All the other grand pantheons seem to be gone.  
- Really?  
- So if we could recieve Erebus' genetical details...

- Don't count on any help from Erebus. He will not have anything to do with those "New gods".  
- Not even if it's about confirming his heritage?  
- Not even then. He'll say something like "I'm well aware of who I am, I don't need a little brat from the Zeus posse telling me that".

- Sounds like an arrogant jerk of a god. But I guess Amon was right calling them arrogant and conceited, those aristocrats. Arrogant, conceited and also degenerated. Sloppy and decadent crowds of gods and goddesses living in their overgrown pantheons believing that only their good names and heritage were enough to receive worship from the mortals.

I stopped abruptly, surpriced at my own sudden outburst of rage, but Cheiron simply nodded and opened up another bottle of the firy and flavoury Argos wine.

- Guess it was like that most of the times, Cheiron said. Amon, by the way, wasn't he from the Wolfmen guerrilla? Those who merged with the Order at the end of the war?  
- Yes, he was. And perhaps he was right about the aristocrats. How else could a pantheon like the Thanaderia, consisting of over 500 members, be annihilated in less than a week?

- Were they really so easy to terminate?  
- According to Zeus they were.  
- The Thanaderia. Amazing. They who were so high held and worshipped beyond reason. Still remember the big Theban temple dedicated to Taira, their pantheon head. Goddess of the steam engine. Thousands of pilgrims every year. The mortals couldn't believe she was gone.

- But I guess this will change now, with all those houses gone. At least in Zeus's dominion. His idea is that worship should be connected to deed, not to pantheon status. In fact, he is out to redefine the whole pantheon idea. He doesn't like the idea of those big collectives of gods and goddesses living together only to strengthen their power. He believes pantheons should be about friendship and kinship. And hardly bigger than around 30 persons each.

- Sounds interesting. If Zeus gets his ways there's going to be a lot of changes around. Not least for the immortal kind. No wonder he angers oldies like Erebus and other surviving aristocrats. So how is our old leader faring by the way?

As expected Zeus's society building ideas interested Cheiron, and then he became rather upset when hearing about Zeus's woman affairs. He had the same suspicions as me about Zeus blowing his reputation and the respect people were having in him, by not being able to control his desire for women.  
- But on the other hand, that could be a late teenage thing. You know, in a war you don't get that many chances.  
- Cheiron, the man is 30. He should know better. Especially if he is trying to form a pantheon and take control over the realms.

- And it seems that he has got a bit on his way, Cheiron said. Most people here recognises him as the overlord, but they know nothing about him. They are mostly scared of him, and they rely on Erebus to offer them protection if Zeus should consider coming this way.

At that moment I had to laugh.  
- Protection? Against Zeus? Cheiron, except for young maidens bothering with their dignity, no-one has anything to fear from Zeus. He's a good and decent man, and he has established a benign rule in Thessalia. A rule based on shared power.  
- Like how?  
- A nexus based on a parliament of mortals, a hyperpantheon with elected deities and his own rule as a balance.  
- Sounds interesting. Well, that Cretan was never stupid. And if he can keep his desires for women under control he might succeed. There is but one obstacle.

- What?  
- As I said, people here don't know him. They fear him.  
- Why?  
- Mostly because they don't know what kind of god he is. They know that he has amazing powers and that he defeated Chronos. They know that the Chronites are gone, but they don't know what's going to come instead. Zeus is an unknown factor to them. And it doesn't help a bit that Erebus keeps telling them "I'm going to protect you against the new gods".

- Hmmm. I should not really be caring, I'm tired of immortals plotting against each other, but this is not right against the mortals. They need to know that they have nothing to fear from Zeus. Give me just a few weeks to settle down here and I'll see what I can do about this Erebus character. And you don't have to be in if you don't want to.  
- Don't worry, Hera, I'm in. To be honest I was starting to get bored with my lot here. I wanted something to happen. And along comes you...

How strange this all felt. Back in Ekarantanni I had been ready to slap Zeus in his face, tell him how sick I was of him and his behaviour. But here, down in Argos, where Zeus was unknown and seen upon with insecurity and even fear, I was ready to be his champion and to defend his name with all it took.

So Hera was on the move again. Up against someone called Erebus. I had to find out who he was first and foremost. And also more about this town-bordering-on-city that was Argos.


	15. The Lord of Argos

_To MmeGiry and Sonora the Free - thanks for the nice reviews!  
To Friend of Zeus - don't worry, the lord of the Olympos will be back in the story later._

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* * *

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**The Lord of Argos**

A lot of things happened to me and with me during my years in Argos. Most of it will not be a part of this story, because it's mostly about small town events. I found new friends and had some lovers. Nothing sparkling or fantastic, more in the way of being cozy and pleasant. Cheiron and I did sleep with each other once - mostly out of curiosity. And I got over Neario. It took a while, and he's still a bittersweet memory stored in a golden box in one of the inner chambers of my soul.

I also had a try at being a deity. Not so much through mortal followers (although I acquired quite a few Argosites when I set out against Erebus) but more through immortal politics, which eventually took me to the Assembley of the Gods, the Hyperpantheon. But let's not rush ahead of events.

I learned that I was gifted for another trade. Politics. In a way politics is like war. No less ruthless, no less violent, only that the weapons and the ways of fighting are different. Instead of the sword you use a pen and the machine-gun you trade in for a typewriter (or a computer keyboard for you sons and daughters of today). And you beat and kick with your voice instead of your arms and legs. The politician's martial arts include fancy words, insults, more or less outright lies, flattering and hard-hitting oneliners. Or the ability to talk a lot without really saying anything. My speciality became answering questions with saying something entirely different. Something that sounded like a good answer, but really wasn't.

So to put it somehow chronologically: I soon found my own place, a three-store villa just outside the city-perimeter. It was a beautiful home. Large south-west sloping garden with high trees and a wall providing me with privacy, a terrace with a swimming pool and the mandatory pillar-portico entrance.

Inside there was a spacious architecture with more pillars, large windows and high ceilings. The former owner had left some chandeliers and big mirrors which I kept and I chose a minimalistic and airy interior decoration, echoing my wish for freedom and openness. And in front of the house I planted some pommegranate-trees, from seed in the fruit I had taken with me from Ningari, offspring to my childhood-tree.

It was actually the first home I decorated on my own. I enjoyed doing so and I still have great memories from that place. Memories of hard work, parties and friends. That white house is still there, for those who are curious, but it's a townhouse now, with several apartments. And there is a brass placket telling something in the style of "The Goddess Hera lived here in the years of...".

Then I set out to find and getting in touch with this Erebus. The best way to do that was to announce that there was a new deity in town: Hera from The Last Clash against the Titans. And did I rock the boat in this sleepy town? The journalists came first as always. Then came the curious crowds. And then, when Hera was all over the news, Erebus finally came.

He checked me out on a rainy (what else, we are talking Argos here) weekday by the end of Harvest Month. Showed up at my door early in the afternoon, a tall, dark-haired man who looked like he had never worked with his hands in his entire life. He introduced himself as Erebus of Argos, trying to start power games already from the start. I was not playing along. Or at least, that was the impression I wanted to give him. I wanted to "tune in" this unknown god a bit first.

- Hera, formerly of Ekarantanni, New Pantheon and the Order of Blue Gold.  
- And why former of all this? was Erebus's first question as soon as we were done exchanging the mandatory politenesses.  
- Because I found out that I'm not content with joining someone else's pantheon. If I want to be in one, it's going to be - well, mine. I decided I'd better go solo than trying to fit in where I don't really want to fit in.  
- And what brought you to my town?

Detested the way he was saying "my town", but I didn't let that show.  
- Coincidences, I answered. The train stopped here and it seemed like a nice place to get off.  
- You seem to be one to take life light-hearted, Hera. May I ask your age?  
- 26. Barely.

- I see. I'm a bit older. 187 to be exact. With that he was pointing out that I was far too young and inexperienced to come here to challenge him. I deflected that blow with a question:  
- 187? So how did you fare in the war? Were you up north fighting?  
- I might have been.  
- You might know Iris then? (His eyes were blank) Rongatar? Nagtaron? (still blank eyes). Or perhaps you weren't with the Order at all, but with some local guerrilla.

- What I did in the war is not of any significance anymore. The war is over. Here and now is what counts.  
- Yes, I made sure to end it. I and Zeus and a few other members of the Order. Ten of us went in to Merioly. Six are still around.  
- As I said, the war is not of any significance anymore.  
- OK. I'll remember that. But exactly what is it you do here? As a deity, I mean.

- Why, defending the region of course!  
- From whom?  
- From unknown elements so far. But you never know. There are so many hungry ones out there who'd gladly take a bit of a flowering region like this.

We duelled like this a bit more, and when he left I wasn't really sure of his strength, but I was certain that I disliked this Erebus and that it was mutual. I had also seen his face when I dropped Zeus's name the first time. Envy. He envied a younger man who had got rid of the Titan tyrant, and then grabbed the momentum after that to solidify his power.

I didn't really say anything about New Pantheon and the Thessalian Nexus or that Zeus's tries at uniting the different mortal tribes, nations and city-states were slowly but steadily succeeding. Almost all of the area around the Central Ocean was uniting now, and so were the archipelagos. Negotiations were also going on in major cities on the Southern Continent as well as in faraway nations as Argolis and Raeiadia. Ekarantanni was slowly but steadily becoming a real power centre.

The Argos region hadn't shown any interest in joining this new Union, but people here recognised Zeus's lordship even if they didn't know him. I saw newly risen temples in his name, as well as old structures belonging to dead gods being converted into Temples of Zeus. That was the first step in accepting that there was a new dynasty forming instead of the Titan one.

Meanwhile I was feeling this town on its pulse. Most of the mortals were content, "busy minding their own business", as Iris would have said, and not many cared much for the outer world:  
_- Well, there's trains going to Larissa, Ekar-whatsitsname and Thebes._  
_- Train takes two days to Thebes. _  
_- I have a cousin living in Karenzia._  
_- What is there really to see out there? _

Or Erebus:  
_- Oh, the god, well we give him what he demands on holidays. _  
_- But we have never had problems with bandits or plagues here since he came._  
_- Since the Chron-police's gone it's been rather cool anyway. _  
_- I've never seen him around, I think he should show himself more. _

But Cheiron had been right about one thing. They feared Zeus:  
_- Don't anger him, he throws thunderbolts at you._  
_- He's got an awful amount of power, like you can't imagine. And when he rages the whole world shivers._  
_- I'm glad if he stays in Thessalia. We don't need another divine ruler._  
_- We're gotta need someone strong to defend us if he comes here. I hope I'll not live to see that day. _

I wondered if this fear of Zeus was Erebus's work and to what purpose. Was he dreaming of going up against Zeus backed by this region? Or did he hope to tempt Zeus into coming here for some kind of duel the former would never stand a chance in the realms of winning.

I'm glad Zeus didn't bother though. This was going to be my private little campaign. I wanted Argos to join the Union in spite of Erebus. And I realised I had to turn Argos from a backwater nomansland into something that was actually interesting for the Union.

I wanted Argos to become a region that could negotiate with the Union instead of having to come on its knees pleading "let us in please!". To achieve that I needed power around here. So I started to gather mortal followers and I formed a mortal political force, The New Dawn Party. The idea was that this was going to branch of into an immortal leg later, and thus helping me reaching the Hyperpantheon, when Argos became a part of the Union.

We started off rather humble, by replacing the mayor of Argos. This was not pleasing Erebus. Algaranon Zetella was one of the deity's faithful followers. Zetella had been sitting in his office since even before the war was over, and he had pledged loyalty to Erebus the very first day Erebus showed himself some five years ago. Our candidate was no-one less than Cheiron, using his mortal disguise as Cheiron Phalou, tamer of horses.

Now we were waiting for Erebus' next move.


	16. Hestia's Advice

**Hestia's Advice**

It was at this moment I let Hestia know where I was. And her answer was simply:  
- I'm coming.

Four days later I met her at the train station of Argos. I had asked her to travel incognito, and thus not flying, just as I had done when I left Ekarantanni. I had done it to hide my energy signature from Zeus and other curious people. In Hestia's case it was about not alerting Erebus that more immortals were coming into town.

I went down to the station, disguised as a mortal (Hera was a rather well-known deity in Argos these days). For once it wasn't raining, although it has been doing so this morning. The sun was actually shining, glittering in the puddles on the platform. I watched the train steaming up the hill, like a tired old dragon. The big black engine might have been an old one, but was well taken care of, and so was the red painted coaches.

I didn't see Hestia immediately when the train started to let off passengers. First after a while I spotted her. She had been travelling gold card class (so much for incognito) farthest back in the train. And she looked fabulous. I had seen so few immortals over the last few years, that I had actually forgotten their beauty. She was clad in a green travelling dress, carried her long, blond hair in six braids treaded with red ribbons and wore a tasteful make-up. It was great to see her again! To receive one of her heartily and strong hugs.

- Hera! I'm so glad to see you! After all this time! How have you been doing out here in the wilderness?  
- Oh, just fine, my urban friend. So how is Ekarantanni these days.  
- Growing. Expanding. Wherever you look there's construction sites. Hera, there's so much to tell you. I guess you've heard about the House of Olympos?

- The House of what?  
- You mean, you haven't even heard that! What kind of news do you get here?  
- About lone and lingering Titans being taken out. Mostly by yours truly to be honest.  
- Well, that's the new name for the pantheon that... I guess we shall not talk about these things here, she said and glanced at a middle-aged mortal man paying intense attention to Hestia's appearance.  
- No, you're right. There is a lot to talk about, but let's do that in my humble home instead. And tomorrow you are to meet Cheiron.  
- Who?  
- You'll see.

At my place Hestia got a chance to freshen up after the trip (no matter where you sit in a train, the smoke from the steam engine gets in your hair and everywhere only after a few hours) and then we ate. And exchanged stories. I told her all about what I had been up to and Hestia filled me in on the latest development of the Union.

That was the easy part. It was growing, now including regions like Attika, Egarnathon, Angresidor and Earaxxes. And Thanigra and Ilaouda on the Southern continent were applying.  
- With their approval the Union will be a bi-continental phenomena.

Then came the large part. The New Pantheon.  
- That name is history now.  
- Really?  
- It really never was more than a working name anyhow. Now it's House of Olympos.  
- Yeah, you mentioned that name. So what about it, and who's in?

- Zeus is leading it of course. Then there's Demeter, Eurynome, Leto, Helios, Poseidon, Hyperion, Astraios, Eos, Iris and I. And Eurynome's sister Metis and her son Irdonan, who joined after you'd left. And then there's the twins. Leto's little kids. Cutest toddlers you'd ever seen.  
- Are they... Zeus's?

- Of course. Apollon, the boy, he's a spitting image of his dad, while Artemis, the girl, looks like she picked the best genes out of the pool her parents provided her with. Dark hair, big blue eyes. But come on, you know they are Zeus's children. Leto told me that you didn't want to get off her back until she let you know who the father was. She almost thought you were jealous, that you had a thing for Zeus.

- I was just itching with curiosity. And Themis?  
- She's left. In fact Zeus and she divorced a little bit more than two years ago. You might think it was a terrible fight, but they actually separated as friends. They decided that their marriage had been a mistake from start, and that they were better off separated. So Themis left and a short while after Krios took off too. And now they are a couple. Living in Egarnathon, so she's not that out of the loop anyhow.

I poured more wine and Hestia went on:  
- Iapetos is officially out of the Olympos because he is now the Chair Lord of the Union Nexus, and he has a penthouse flat in downtown Ekarantanni where he "lives". But he spends more time up home than down there. He's been having an affair with Eurynome, but I don't know how serious that one really is. His daugther Pleione on the other hand, she fell madly and irrevocably in love with Atlas of all people, on one of his visits. Now she lives with him in Agonagaros in Thanigra and they have a little daughter, Maia. Thuridos is also gone. Zeus kicked him out.  
- Why is that?  
- Because Thuridos tried to rape Iris. Bastard! Hestia spat.

- And Zeus, enjoying his newly found bachelor life?  
- Not the way you think. He has calmed down quite a bit over the years. Matured. I guess the hubbub around Leto getting pregnant and the way you took off shook him quite a bit. Now he's mostly working himself to pieces tailoring together The Union. Or rising his kids. They come first now. He really loves the little fairies.

Hestia told me that the Pantheon had moved out of their Ekarantannian palace, after it was beginning to become invaded by mortals seeking their gods, and relocated itself to a mountain top near the city. The mountain carried a half-forgotten name that was revived - Olympos - and in connection with the move New Pantheon was renamed into Olympos Pantheon. Hestia also told me about all my old friends, how they were faring, what they were up to. That evening I really felt that I was missing them all. Including Zeus. But I could not go back. Not now. Maybe not ever.

- One more thing, Hestia said before we parted for the night.  
- Yes?  
- Zeus asks you for your forgiveness. He says he's sorry about what he did and wonder if you can accept his apologies.  
- Hestia, you haven't told him you were visiting me, have you?  
- Why, of course I did!

- But then he'll find me, just by tracing you!  
- Relax, my friend, he already knows where you are and what's been going on with your life since you left. Most of it at least. You must know he's able to do these things. But I told him to leave you alone and stop spying. He accepted that.

I sighed. He had known all the time. I didn't know if I was sad or relieved by the fact that he hadn't been in touch.  
- He said one more thing. I don't get it but: _There is still room on the dancefloor when you feel ready to move to the rhythm_.  
- I get it, I answered, had to turn away my face so Hestia wouldn't see the tears that were suddenly stinging my eyes. Tell him I accept his excuses, but I don't want to dance.

We said our goodnights and I went to bed but laid awake more than an hour, thinking and rethinking all my friend had told me about my former co-pantheonites.

That night the dream came back. I was at that place called Olympos. All was dizzy and there were just clouds and blue skies to be seen all over. First I was alone, walking down a shining floor, then suddenly I was in a big bed. Zeus was there too, kissing me and touching me all over, filling me with feverish excitement. But I couldn't see him. I only knew it was him. And there was all that blinding light all over the place. Then I woke up, sun shining right in my eyes and I was wet between my legs.

I felt so ashamed I blushed. I thought those dreams had left me. I had had them from time to time the first years after leaving Ekarantanni, but now it had been 15 months since the last one. Apparently it took only a little bit talk about my former friend and it all came back. What had he done to me?

o-o-o

As I expected, it was a pleasant surprise for both Hestia and Cheiron to meet each other again. They were both these easygoing persons not bothering much with prestige and protocol. (Sometimes I wish I could be more like that too, instead of being so conscious of myself all the time.) And it brought back a lot of memories of "old times". But we did not dwell there. Instead I told Hestia about the New Dawn Party and my plans to bring the Argos region into the Union.

- That's the first step. The next step is me in the Hyperpantheon Assembley. What advice can you offer us, you who have seen Union politics from inside?  
- Don't wait too long! There are several tribes, city-states, nations and regions lining up now. Argos is not on any priority list.  
- But how do I deal with this Erebus?

- Just run him over! That might sound dangerous, but Hera, Cheiron, people are still very much aware of the Titanic suppression, but that will fade quickly. The mortals who remember die away and the new generations will take peace and liberty for granted. Use that lingering awareness to promote the Union. Tell them that the Union and the House of Olympos is a guarantee against another tyrant.  
- They fear Zeus is of the same kind.  
- Then prove he's not. Have him come here!

- I can't do that. I...  
- You must forget the old disagreements you've had and do what's best for you - and for Argos - in the long term.  
- It's not about that. This is my race! I'll not come running to Zeus as soon as I get into obstacles.  
- Hera is right, Cheiron supported me. Zeus is still too much of an unknown factor for the mortals here. If we bring him here we might risk alienating ourselves and the Union-idea instead of promoting it.  
- OK, I'm buying that argument, said Hestia. But I'm still saying: Don't wait a day! Start tomorrow!

So we did. From one day to the other the "New Dawn Party" and the "Join the Union"-campaign were all over Argos. I got several mortals working on my case. And even more joining our party. Our symbol, the peacock, was seen everywhere these days.

Erebus fought back. Mostly with aiming at people's xenophobia and the unknown factor the Union represented.  
- Why should we join something we don't need? Why should we fix something that isn't broken. Here comes this immortal Hera and her Peacock Party. She has been here less than five years. And she's alredy trying to change Argos into something that isn't us. What do we know about her? How can we know that she has not been sent out by this Thessalian thunder-maker to eliminate our self-rule and forcing us into his power-sphere?

He was good, I had to admit that. I got back with:  
- Argos is a great city. But what we in Argos risk by not joining the Union is stagnation. And stagnation means a slowing down economy. It means young people leaving, seeking new opportunities elsewhere. Already the regions and the cities around us are joining the Union. What will happen if we end up the sole area outside this new commonwealth? Will we be regarded at all? Will we still have trains stopping here in another generation?

- To you who fear Zeus I want to say this: He brought down Chronos. He got sick of dictatorship. That's not the world he wants. He wants liberty and justice. Is there anything remotely like the Chronos police around anymore? Is there terror and suppression? No, immortals like Erebus and I can show ourselves to the world again and even have an argument like this. That was impossible only ten years ago.

Then something pleasant as well as entirely unexpected happened. I was seeked out by an immortal called Neyta. She came from Kergandar, north of Argos, and she wanted to form her own branch of the New Dawn.  
- We're also outside the Union. Strong forces are keeping us outside. I'm up against a newly formed pantheon here. Since we share a common interest, Hera, I believe we could have use for each other.


	17. Hera vs Erebus

_To Sonora the Free -there will be more of Artemis later in the story. Stay tuned:-)_

**Hera versus Erebus **

My contacts with Neyta of Kergandar became the start of the growth of the New Dawn Party. Over the next years the peacock symbol was spread from Argos to Kergandar, to Larissa, to Nanara and to many other places. It went where the Union idea earlier had had trouble landing in fertile earth.

Cheiron had left the mayor's office, to help me campaigning. One of "our" mortals sat there instead, and we were also forming an Argos Agora in the style of the Ekarantanni one. Now Erebus couldn't say anything more about us selling out the self-rule idea. With an Agora all the mortals in town could have their voices heard through elected representatives.

From have been a indifferent bordering on reluctant group of people the Argosites were beginning to find the Union project interesting. That the main core was located in Ekarantanni some 4000 kilometres away was a nuisance of course. On the other hand - it was there things were happening and money was rolling. Neyta and I were working ourselves into peoples mind to make them longing for that.

Now Erebus changed his tactics. Earlier he had done the obvious and tried to ally himself with the other gods who were striving against the Union. But for some reason that expected connection did not take place. These deities, headed by a woman named Selene, all but threw Erebus out on the cobblestones after his visit to their pantheon. Then Erebus turned to me trying to have me joining him in a power game against them instead. To reach that goal he started to - of all things - court me!

Oddly enough I think he might have succeeded - if he had started earlier in the game. Because there were certain Neario-like qualities to his person, when he dropped his aggressive superior complex and behaved a bit more "normal". But he was too late. I had seen the other, darker side of Erebus way too many times over the years.

Erebus invited me over to dinner at his place on the top floors of a larger building in central Argos. There he laid out his plan:  
- Hera, we are sharing this region together. We should stop all these nonsense fighting each other and join forces instead. We could be strong and powerful. We could turn this region into something great. Then we wouldn't need this Union.  
- And why should I join with you. We don't share any common interests. The New Dawn Party is doing fine. It'll help me being the deity who will represent Argos when we join the Union.

- Why do you strive for that? Hera, we could form our own power centre in Argos. Our own pantheon. Let the Thessalians have their Union and we could do our thing. A thing better fit with the culture here than Ekarantanni ideas. Erebus stared at me with intense brown eyes, and in the dimmed lamplight he looked almost honest and sincere. Almost like a distant cousin to my lost Neario...  
- Go on! I urged. I wanted to hear what he was aiming at.

- That's the start, Erebus said. We should go further west. Avalon, Atlantis even America. And maybe up North too. Thule, Hyperboréa, Scandia, Gothia, Endia.  
- And then what? With two balanced powers in the world?  
- We'll make sure our doesn't crack first.  
- So you are after Zeus's lordship after all?  
- Zeus? He's a no-one. A little spoiled brat who have found the big guys' toys. He will soon be burned-out. He's biting over too much.

- And you aren't?  
- I'm almost 200 years old. He's not even 40. And he moves too fast. Doesn't stop to solidify. His alliance is resting on clay. A minor upheaval, and it will all come tumbling down upon him. I'm not impressed with what he's doing. I must say I'm more impressed with you.  
- Oh come on, don't flatter me! (Cheap trick, I thought.)  
- No, it's true. You came here and angered me first, but you have proven worthy.

- Worthy what? Or maybe I should ask whom? You?  
- Yes, dear Hera, I...  
- Thanks, Erebus, for an excellent dinner and for sharing your plans with me. But I see no difference between what you're dreaming of doing and what Zeus is actually doing.  
- So you're turning my offer down?

- To be honest, yes. I've no reason to abandon my tries to bring Argos into The Union and instead joining forces with you and try to form a competing commonwealth.  
- Then you're better run and hide by the knees of Zeus because from here on I'm going to play it rough with you and your little godlings.  
- And with Selene's pantheon?  
- I can take them too!  
- Not in a two front war. Three front if The Union suddenly decides to take interest in our internal affairs. And they might as well do if we start to "play it rough" as you call it.

With those words I left Erebus. But I didn't feel half as confident as I had sounded back there. I knew that Erebus was still very much available to sabotage my plans to join Argos with The Union, and thus my chances of getting in the Hyperpantheon. He was no threat to Zeus or even Selene. But what did I have except for two loyal co-workers in Cheiron and Neyta, and some loose alliances in the west?

On the other hand - it was more than Erebus had, I suddenly realised. He had no allies at all - except for the daft nymph Kami and a handful of mortals!

Then came that god from the North.

o-o-o

I was waken by a mindcall from Cheiron.  
- Erebus is fighting an attacker outside town. Maybe a Titan.

I knew it couldn't be a Titan. I still had my Titan warning reflexes alert, just out of old habits (and because there had been some stray Titans coming against Argos earlier in the years), so I would have been warned im that case. Instead I thought that Zeus for some reason had decided to fight Erebus. But why now? Why not earlier, when he started to be a nuisance for the Union's expansions.  
- I'm going to check this out, I told Cheiron.  
- Be careful, he asked me.

Throwing on a wollen tunic and a warm cloak against the chilly winds of Winter Month I left home in the early light of dawn and set out to find what it really was Erebus was battling. If it could be one of my allies. But no, when reaching the site for the duel I found that there was an unknown energy signature who was holding out against Erebus. And that poor immortal was getting beaten up in a bad way.

When Erebus had almost battered the living daylight out of him, the stranger was thrown to the ground.

- This is what we do with attackers to this city, he was screaming and rising his fists to the sky. The mortals who had been watching the fight were cheering. Watching the action from my hiding point I wondered if the stranger had died. No, he was alive, I fond when focusing in. But barely. Very week energies surrounded him, his aura was failing and his shakras slowing down. He could be dead any minute if anyone didn't do something.

- You can have him, he's yours, Erebus was screaming to his mortals. Then he set off in the sky, a shining spear of gold against the gray clouds. The mortals started to beat up the unconscious figure, kicking at him and throwing sticks and stones upon him, but they couldn't really do him more harm. His shielding was still functioning in a way. And the mob soon tired and threw him in the ice-filled trench near by.

I was by the strangers side as soon as the last mortal had left. Carefully I dragged him up through the wet snow on the slope and placed him on a lousy excuse for a horizontal area. Then I carefully probed his mind. I saw pictures of a dark, stormy ocean. A boat among waves. Icebergs. Further back. A winter landscape. Mortals in towns with houses made of wood. Blond, fair, blue-eyed people. A land of "Zeus:es". Further back, the war... Yes, there it was! This man has been a Brother in the Order!

With that information in my mind I didn't hesitate a second more. I started to heal this battered body. I worked hard, and the hours went by and more snow started to fall. I almost thought I was losing him several times. But halfway through the afternoon he started to recover. Then his own healing abilities kicked in and from then on it went fast.

o-o-o

- I'm Argus, the dark-skinned god said, holding the cup of Nectar with both hands. Cheiron and I were sitting opposite of him at my dining room table. Argus still looked pale beneath his rich pigmentation and there was a tiredness in his ebony eyes as well as puzzlement.  
- I'm Hera, I said and Cheiron also told his name. You were in the Order during the war? Argus nodded at my question.

- I travelled north when it had ended. I have been curious about the land up there since I was a little kid, and I wanted to see it while it still was wild. Before they also became a part of this newly awakened civilisation that is spreading so fast now. I've seen so much... Then I came back here to my former hometown, only to be attacked by this raging god. Why did he do that?

- To display his power, I guess, I said.  
- But I don't have any bones to pick with him. I don't even know him. And I'm no threat. I'm not even strong. I did sighting in the war. Spying on the enemy, keeping track on everything using the sight-pool.  
- Now I remember you, I exclaimed. The guy with the hundred eyes! There wasn't a thing you missed. We even debated if you slept or not.  
- Or with just a few eyes at a time, Cheiron added.

Argus smiled in spite of everything.  
- Yes, that's me all right. All I ever did was watching other people fight. Can't believe this Erebus could think I was a threat either to him or this town.

- Well, Erebus's not... He's crazy to say the least, said Cheiron. Obsessed with power. Probably he saw your weakness, and used it to prove to the mortals that he could defeat a "threat".  
- Chaos, you... You are not living in pantheon with him, are you?  
- No we're not, there's no pantheon here. It's just me and Hera, we're co-workers. And then there's Erebus...  
- You must put a stop to him before he kills someone! Argus said.

- Yes, he has actually gone too far this time, Cheiron agreed. But we're going to need help if we are taking out Erebus. And I'm not talking Neyta here or Zephyros or some other allied. I'm talking about bringing in the Olympos Pantheon and...  
- Hey, Cheiron, slow down! We're not going to...  
- Hera, I know what you think of outside involvement, especially when it comes from the Union leaders, but this is a serious situation. We must do something about Erebus before he goes violent again. Maybe next time he comes after you.  
- What for?  
- For rescuing Argus. Or turning him down when he clearly declared that he wanted you.

- Cheiron! You do remember I was in the order? You do remember I was one in the group who went in to Merioly to finish Chronos? When it comes to brute force, I'm way stronger than Erebus. I'm also faster, better trained and skilled. The only reason I have not displayed these talents is that this has been a war of words and deed. Not violence. So we are not involving the Olympos or any other outsiders. But tomorrow I'm going to have a word with our dear neighbour god. He has to learn what he had done! He nearly killed an innocent man. I'm not going to let it be a next time. If it happens again I'm going to stop him... Don't look at me that way, Cheiron! I can do these things. When I want to.

- I believe you, said Argus. I remember you and that man you used to team with. Neos something. You two were invincible. What happened to him?  
- Neario. (Odd! No tears.) He was killed in action.  
- Oh, I'm sorry. Argus laid a hand over mine. You two were... I'm sorry.  
- Don't be.

o-o-o

- You almost killed that man! Are you out of your mind, Erebus? I was facing the older god standing on the stairs to his temple. Curious mortals were gathering around us.  
- He challenged me.  
- He did, eh? What did he say to you that you found so threatening?  
- I don't remember, the usual things that I should move over and this was his area. Scared the senses out of the mortals who encountered him, so they came running up to my temple screaming for their lives. Odd that no-one came running up to you. Or maybe not that odd, Hera, you're not exactly the defending deity.

- Erebus, let's not start this me/you/Argos nonsense now. You should have questioned the mans motives instead of trying to finish him off like he was some Titan.  
- In fact he did behave like one...  
- Doesn't matter, you should be able to tell the difference between a Titan and a Homo Sapiens Immortal. Now listen to me: Argus is alive and well again, thanks to me. But I don't want this to happen again, do you get it?

- Are you threatening me, Hera?  
- In fact I am. And I know that I can back those treaths because you ran away when there were Titans here for real five years ago. While I and Cheiron took them out. So don't come talking about who's the defending deity either, because you're a looser in that game too!

Once again I turned my back on a raged Erebus. Head held high I left the Acropolis and took off heading home. But I had hardly got back before I was told that there were hundreds of mortals waiting outside my main temple across the street from the City Hall. Former faithfuls of Erebus who were now pledging me their loyalty. My hard work was finally starting to pay off, the event with poor Argus being the grain that tipped the scale.


	18. Selene

_Thanks and hugs to Sonora the Free and MmeGiry for nice reviews!_

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**Selene**

Three weeks later I went to Argos to see Selene and her pantheon. My visit to them was long overdo, but for the first time I felt like I had a good reason to consider me as an equal to this Selene. I was now regarded as the main deity of Argos, and Cheiron and Argus as members of my little pantheon. Erebus was degraded to "protector of banking and business", something he had been engaged in all the time anyway.

Selene's pantheon is located a bit north of Argos, at a rocky island in a large lake, making it easy to defend from Titans and other villains. And the palace is different to say the least. Pink and purple with towers, catwalks, glass cupolas and stained-glass windows it looks almost like an oversized cake, which I politely labelled "nice" upon meeting my host.

Back then the pantheon consisted of five grown-up gods. Selene was married to a man named Irolos with whom she had two young sons. Then there were the goddess Goladia, sister to Irolos and the twin gods Tiaros and Tirinon. Just under age was the goddess Khariklo, daughter of the volcano god Diro, who had fled the very same way I once had, while her father died. Khariklo had found refugee with Selene's pantheon, but dreamed of returning to her fathers Argos and the mountain that was her heritage and responsibility some day "When that terrible Erebus is defeated".

My first impression was that there was something very familiar with the platinum blond pantheon head Selene. With her energy-pattern as well as her cheek-line, thin lips and the almost colour-less eyes. Had she been in the Order?

We exchanged the mandatory pleasantries and presents, and then almost as soon as etiquette permitted, we went down to business.  
- I have regarded you as an adversary, Hera, said Selene. But you seem much more reasonable than your precursor, Lord full-of-himself Erebus.  
- But your pantheon share a common interest with Erebus as being against The Union. Whereas I'm very much Pro-Union.  
- That's no secret, Irolos said. But the problem with Erebus was that he was not interested in co-operation. He wanted subjugation.

- From you?  
- Yes, believe it or not, he wanted to appoint himself leader over the Anti-Union-Movement. And we should be his "helpers".  
- I do believe you, Irolos! That sounds very much like the Erebus I know. But why are you so much against the Union?  
- Because we don't want to be ruled from outside, Selene explained. I respect this Zeus and his work, that was something else Erebus would not accept, but I don't want to hand over control to some other pantheon.

- That's not what the Union is about, I began. Then we started to talk politics. And we talked and talked (and talked), me and those gods. And I didn't get why both Neyta and Erebus had called them unreasonable. Well, Erebus was hardly reasonable with anyone (who was not accepting his undeserved lordship) but Neyta, she was smart and wise, she should have been able to at least talk with this pantheon. But I had to consider that later, now I felt like I was really getting somewhere with these people. We were actually discussing The Union without conditions.

- You know, the regions are actually not handing over that much power to the Ekarantanni Nexus, I explained at one moment. Local stuff is being dealt with locally. But there are outer threats as well as inner matters that don't bother with borders, like crime and air-pollution. These kind of things are dealt with in the Nexus. What the Argos region would lose in self control it would win back by being able to make a difference in the Nexus Assemblies. Both mortals and immortals have their assemblies. The immortal Hyperpantheon is made out of one elected immortal of every region and the mortal assembly is population based.

- But how much is run by this parliament and how much is really controlled by Zeus and his underlings? According to our intelligence it's Zeus who runs almost everything, said Selene.  
- You're right, in a way he does - at the moment. Remember that the system is new - and a bit shaky. Zeus has to step in from time to time. The world has not had a working democracy in millennia. We had Chronos, and before him there was a man called Uranos and before him Gaia. And before her - no-one knows. The history starts in a way with Uranos overthrowing Gaia and then ruling until Chronos got rid of him. Castrated him, they say.

- I don't trust this Zeus, said Goladia. It was the first time she had opened her month during the evening.  
- Why?  
- He has too much power, the older woman said.  
- But he is handing it over, sister, said Irolos.  
- Yes, but I know his kind. Jealously guarding their position. And destroying everything that threatens it. It might be true that this thundergod is handing out power. But only to those he choose. His aye-sayers. The others better watch out and run for cover when he appears. And if you dare to criticise him... a thunderbolt is ready for you my dear.

- Goladia, have you met him? I asked.  
- No, but...  
- Then who are you to judge him?  
- Someone wizened by life, Hera. I've seen people like Zeus come and go. Immortals as well as mortals. And if I can chose, I don't want to deal with them.

- But I met Zeus, I directed at Goladia. More than that, I lived in a kind of pantheon with him for more than two years. And I don't recognise the man you are describing. There are no aye-sayers around Zeus and he doesn't "throw thunderbolts" at those who question him. I know, because I have done exactly that. Questioned and criticised him. Hundreds of times. He listens and he answers back. What I can say though is that he is really convincing. I've seen people turn 180 degrees in their opinion after just talking with him for a while. So in that way you might be right - he is eliminating resistance. But he can also change his mind about things and admit that he has been wrong.

- Have you seen that happen? Irolos was sceptic.  
- Yes. When someone has had more background information than him. He listens to reason. And hard facts. But he doesn't give a dead fly for heated opinions or screaming masses. If he believes them wrong they are wrong, no matter how many they are.

- I'm still not going to subject to Zeus, said Goladia. Never in my immortal life. He'd have to kill me before that.  
- Come on! I was starting to get really annoyed with this stubborn goddess. No-one has asked you to "subject". Zeus the least. He's no Erebus! You can become a citisen in the Union if you choose that Argos should be in. But never a subject, not to Zeus or anybody else.  
- We'll see about that, said Goladia with a sour look on her face.

Then we left the discussion of Zeus. But I couldn't help wondering why there was such a resistance against my old Warbrother around here. Was he really scaring this people with his appearance or was it the old fear of omnipotent leaders (read Chronos) that affected people who had not been around Zeus? He was powerful, that's true, probably the mightiest living being, but at the same time juste and honorable. In the regions around Thessalia Zeus had been saluted as a saviour and had had no problems with promoting his ideas of a union with a common parliament in Ekarantanni.

But without really working that hard I had succeeded in making these Union sceptic immortals at least curious about the things going on in Ekarantanni. It was decided that Tiaros should be sent to the Nexus as an observer. And that he should try to get a meeting - hopefully with Zeus, but at least with some member of the Olympos Pantheon.

Before I left there was something I had to ask Selene though.  
- Were you ever in the Order of the Blue Gold during the war?  
- No, I was here, keeping an eye on Tiaros and Tirinon. But my brother was. Fought down south. I never knew what became of him. He never returned from the war. I believe he died.  
- I was also down south, I said. Maybe I knew him. What was his name?  
- Helios.

- Helios? But he's a member of the Olympos Pantheon now! Incredible that you two have lost touch! That's something which has to be taken care of.  
- Is he - in the Olympos! My dear brother? Are you sure, Hera?  
- Yes, it's him all right. Now I know where I'd seen your familiar energy signature too, Selene. In your brother!

- You know him well?  
- We fought side by side during the last year of the war. He and I were in Merioly together when Zeus brought down Chronos. Then we lived under the same roof for more than two years while what was going to be the Olympos Pantheon took form.

- May I ask why you left this pantheon?  
- Because something happened there between me and a man. After that event I felt that I didn't want to be around anymore. And I also had the burning desire in me to create something that was my own. Not as being a member of a large pantheon.  
- And you have done well, Hera. Your name is acknowledged all over. You have become Hera of Argos. If we against all odds decide to join the Union I'm going to promote you as a delegate in the Hyperpantheon.

-Thanks! I'm going to show myself worthy of that trust!  
- You're more than worthy, Hera, you're a great goddess. Candid and noble. You have shown that here today. You'll have my - and my pantheon's support. And we are reconsidering the Union. Especially after you told me my dear brother is involved. I must get in touch with him. But I said reconsidering. Not that we are pro. Just a little bit open-minded.

With those words we said good-bye and I was convinced that a slight push of Selene's pantheon in the right direction and the Argos region would be ready for the Union. And then Nanara, Kergandar, Akaia and all the surrounding regions would join, given time, too.


	19. Ekarantanni

**Ekarantanni **

It was obvious that the Union Capital had once been designed by some megalomaniac with a raving passion for marble and pillars. Upon my return to Ekarantanni, that characteristics had only been strengthened, more obvious.

I had been away for 15 years, and during that period Ekarantanni had grown from a middle sized city to a world metropolis rivalled by none. Skyscrapers surging into the air, highways snaking themselves through the urban area and the harbour was enormous. And so was the central train station. The river Airetis was "tamed" by quays, chanal and bridges, and the swamp areas in the south were filled and ditched out and transformed into densely populated suburbs like Iolkos, Helikon and Dodona. Ekarantanni sprawled over a large area, somewhat halted in the north by a mountain range that had only been faraway blue tops when I lived here the last time.

I flew in together with some other delegates appointed for the Hyperpantheon. We were five deities from five different regions recently connected to the Union. Hera from Argos, Neyta from Kergandar, Thetis from Ithaca, Zephyros from Nanara and Menoetius from Akaia. All of us except for the latter representing the New Dawn Party. Menoetius was independent.

Behind us flew our assistants including my trustworthy Argus. I was so glad to have him with me as well as I was glad to be able to leave Argos in the good hands of Cheiron and his young wife Khariklo, daughter of Diro. And to know that Erebus was no threat anymore, since he had been convinced that fighting against the newly formed Garanarian Pantheon would do him no good in the long term.

At the same time I knew that I was up against other adversaries here. Gods and goddesses who were at least as good as I at plotting and scheming. The Hyperpantheon wasn't going to be remotely like a walk in the park. But I was past 40 now, leader of a large party group and I still, almost 18 years later, carried a mark of honor by being one of the heroes who conquered Merioly. That meant I could count on receiving respect. I planned to use that respect wisely. There was so much I wanted to do...

Then I saw the Mount Olympos. Faith, that was impressing! A lone peak, cropped some 1000 meters over the ground and with large white buildings resting on its top. A golden dome glittering in the sunlight, gardened terraces, waterfalls and lakes. I was in awe. So this was where my old friends lived. I had to force my eyes away from the impressing sight. Suddenly I felt so distant from my old life. So sad. I was certain that I should never set foot at that marvellous place. Except maybe as a guest at some large and fancy event in the future.

The New Dawn headquarter was located on the 25:th floor in a skyscraper near the Nexus building. There I met the rest of the gods and goddesses of the New Dawn. The floor directly beneath belonged to the mortal branch of the party, and I was seeing these people tomorrow.

Almost a dozen delegates were waiting for me. Some of them were from older provinces, but had joined The New Dawn anyway. A fair, blond goddess with a frank look in her heart-shaped face was the first one to introduce herself.  
- Freya of Vanahem. Pleased to finally meat you Hera!

Yes, it's that Freya. The Norse goddess who ended up having children with both Zeus and his son Hermes years later on. Her sister and assistant, Falida, was content with Zeus though. (And Zeus never gets content.)

Others came up one after another:  
- Ra from Aigyptos. I'm a member of the Luxor Pantheon. Our leader Amon salutes you and asks if you still remember him.  
- Certainly I do. I smiled at the sinewy, dark-skinned man. Give him an heartily regard from an old friend and Warsister.  
- Electra from Troy on the Eastern West Coast. Tall, slender girl, a mix of races giving her unusual features. Nervous.

- Boreas from Hyperborea. Pale man with something chillingly ruthless in his ice-gray eyes, like he had been stepping hard on people to get here.  
- Notus of Xaliricon. Tall, black man with long hair in a zillion of braids. Self-confident on the border of cocky.  
- Phoenix of Sarnaa, first province on the Eastern East Coast to join. White hair and yellow eyes spoke of Titan blood in his veins, but there was nothing Titan-like about his warm-smiling, honest expression.

- Scadé from Valhall. My leader salutes you too. Odin. You saved his life back in the war.  
- Odin?  
- He hacked a computer in Titanopolis and was knocked out. You got him back to headquarters, Hera.  
- Now I know! Oden, son of Okeanos. Give him my regards too!  
- It's not Titanopolis anymore, It's Mychenae. And I'm it's representative. Name's Apeliotes. When the big man with the black, curly hair met the green eyes of the tomboy redhead that was Scadé I saw something happening. Love at first sight, something I hadn't believed in up until then.

- But it's you! Xurasa! Great to see you, old Warsister!  
- Fantastic to see you, Hera! I'm representing Thebes. We barely joined in time. I'm so glad I could be here!

Then my Western friends introduced themselves and people were hugging, cheek-kissing an hand-shaking all over the room. It was interesting to see how many there were of us who actually knew each other from earlier parts of our lives. Some of us had been 'Sisters and 'Brothers in the Order during the war, while others, like Scadé and Boreas, turned out to be related.

Back then the Homo Sapiens Immortal was a rare specie. The Titans had almost managed to exterminate the whole stock. There had been only 146 left accounted for when the war was over. Now that number was almost up to 180 if you counted those past 16 years (maturity age).

Now about half of the grown-up members of our kind were gathered in Ekarantanni, including the delegates for the 34 Union Provinces, their staff and the members of the Olympos. So were a lot of teenagers - immortals being born after the war, like Atlas and Pleione's 14 years old daughter Maia who was a trainee at the New Dawn Headquarters. They knew nothing of Titans and could hardly picture a world where people got hunted down and killed just because they had been born with a certain genetic strand. They looked at this new world with a brave, open mind so far away from the cynicism a lot of us older carried. Listening to Maia and her contemporaries talking felt like swimming in fresh water.

o-o-o

After a midmorning of installing myself and the others in the Headquarters I decided to go out and familiarise myself with this Ekarantanni that was so different from the city I had known back in the early years.  
- Can I come with you, Hera? Electra of Troy looking up from the cardboard box she was unpacking.  
- Certainly! Company is always great.

I looked at the girl who was shining with relief. It was obvious that it had taken her so much courage just to be able to ask me if she could come along. Freya and Neyta on the other hand simply stated the fact that they were also following.  
- I've seen some already, told Freya in the elevator down, but this town is enormous. I went out as a mortal, walking down the streets. And got lost. Way megabig lost! Had to hide myself, shed my cover and levitate, just to see where I was.

- Didn't you have a map? asked Neyta.  
- Of course I had. One of those tourist maps that you never manage to fold back together again. But I couldn't really figure it out. I'm used to the sea-maps of the Vanahem islands. Venburg, our largest town, is but a village compared to this... this... Forgive me, girls, but I still can't grasp the size of this place.

-You'll get used to it in time, I assured Freya. I'm awed too to be honest, even if I used to live here once.  
- You did? asked Freya.  
- Yes, but that was 15 years ago. Feels like an eternity. And it was hardly the same place back then. Much smaller. By the way, let's start out disguised as mortals. We'll see much more walking or riding the trolleys. And we'll be left alone, regarded upon as nothing more than another foursome of confused tourists.  
- Sounds fine by me, said Neyta and the others hummed in agreement.

Our original plan was to check out the Nexus. After all it was going to be our workplace. But the large building was still closed for construction. Stressed mortals were drilling holes and running with cords inside, and a worried supervisor said something about "hoping to be able to finish in time for the start of the sessions". Whew! Those mortals. Always such time-optimists. I guess that's something that comes with the knowledge that time is limited and that you have to squeeze every nanosecond out of it.

For a while we stared at this imposing white marble building with the mandatory rows and rows of pillars, and I wondered if no-one ever was going to come up with some new architectural concept for official buildings.

Then we took out Freya's map and decided on some new landmarks instead. And during the rest of the day we walked the Green Lawn Park, ate lunch at the restaurant on the top floor of the Spear of Tomorrow (like really good tourists), discovered the shopping districts, saw the Corlia Fountains and gaped at the enormous Zeus statue in the Olympos Square.  
- It doesn't even look like him, said Electra. I turned in surprise at that remark. Had she met Zeus recently? When?

Neyta beated me to the obvious question though. (And Freya seemed more surprised that the shy Trojan had spoken at all.)  
- You know Zeus?  
- Met him years ago. Electra was staring at her shoes, red cheeks.  
- How was he? Freya this time.  
- At least not carrying that despotic pose, Electra said and hinted at the statue of the man with outstretched arms. It was a well-known martial-art stance, and I got the feeling of him being just about to do the next move - a kick up in the enemy's ribs while blocking the enemy's attack with the right arm. To me it reminded of the Zeus I had seen fighting Titans. Not very much like a creator of a democracy I had to admit.

- Go on... Neyta sounded impatient.  
- He's such a great person and... He came to Troy once. Before we joined the Union. I was the only immortal in the whole Ilios area back then.  
- And... Neyta was staring at the other goddess. Before Electra continued I understood what the Kergandarian was hinting at. Electra skipped the obvious, what Neyta later referred to as the interesting parts, and went on:  
- Our son is not even 12. But what should I do? I had to leave someone behind as a guardian of the city, if only as a symbol. It was terrible - at least until Zeus promised to assign someone keeping an eye on both Dardanos and Troy while I came here to do what my country asked me to do.

Freya was looking from Electra, to the huge god-statue and then back to Electra again. She was thinking hard on something. Electra on the other hand refused to meet Freya's look, she stared at the cone-shaped twin towers on the opposite side of the square from the Temple of Zeus. After a while Freya gave in and asked:  
- Come on, Elli, was he good or what?  
- Who? Electra seemed lost in thoughts.  
- Chair Lord Iapetos, joked Freya. Blank look from Electra.  
- No, I'm talking of the statue guy of course, Freya sounded like a cross between annoyed and filled with giggles. Zeus! Was he good in bed?

Electra's reaction became fierce:  
- Stop yelling at me! she spat at the Norse woman. Find out for yourself! It's not that hard you know. With those words she turned her back on us three and started walking down the square in the direction of the twin tower buildings. I understood how she felt. She had been seduced by Zeus, fallen in love and then had his baby. And now her sensitive being interpreted the exchange of words like Freya was making fun of her. I started to run after the Trojan.

- Elli, wait! I took her arm but she shook me off.  
- You don't know... tears were glittering in green, slanted eyes beneath tar-black strands of hair.  
- In fact I do. I went through almost the same as you with this man. Although I didn't have a child.  
- You...

We did what seemed oddly natural. We hugged there in the middle of the square, surrounded by pigeons and tourists. Electra wiped her tears in time for the arrival of Freya and Neyta. But Freya saw what was the matter.  
- I'm sorry... Forgive me, sister, I did not know...  
- Apology accepted. Electra tried to tuck back the strands of hair into her elaborated forehead knot. How should you know?  
- I've only heard that he was... Keen on women. I didn't really think it was true. I thought all those bimbos were making things up to make themselves interesting for a while.  
- Well I guess a lot of them do too. Neyta sounded cynical.

o-o-o

The Memorial of Fallen Warriors was perhaps the best example of imposing style. Huge angular marble building with gold intarsia. Ever burning fire in the middle. The mortals names took up more than 90 percent of the inside. It was the other ten percent that interested us. I found Nearios name high up almost beneath the ceiling. But his face, his smile, his velvet eyes were harder to conjure up these days. It all seemed so distant, and I almost felt ashamed of myself when I realised how dusty I had let these memories become.

- My mother and father. Neyta was standing teary-eyed looking at two connected names a bit away. And Electra was staring at a cluster that was her whole family. The Mount Ida Pantheon. Freya in turn had lost a lover just like I.  
- Od. So young, so innocent. He loved the whole world, wanted to become a healer, to help people. Why... She rested her forehead against the white marble where the dead gods name was etched, shaking with tears. And then my tears came too. Not just over Neario. Over all the others I had known over the years. Aniersa, Jujo, Anzoura, Oroaro, Utargar, Iliteo, Acciran, Oiretha, Lu, Prometheus...

And this time it was Electra who came up and comforted me. We stood there for a while until a chatting group of Theban tourists entered the Memorial. Mortals, starting to listen to an annoyingly cheerful guide. Chaos! This was not a place for funny remarks and witty comments about the architecture. This was a place of lament and contemplation.  
- Sorry girls, but I can't stand this, I said, wiped my tears and shed my cover while walking over to the guide.

- Pardon me young man, I said to the mortal 20-something, but I'm the goddess Hera and I demand that you show this place a little bit more respect. This Memorial was raised to commemorate brave men and women who fought in a war to make it possible for you and the rest of your group to receive your freedom. It was not put up here for you to make fun of.  
- So... so... sorry, mighty Hera... I...  
- I demand that you stop your so called lecture and go home and think it over again. The next time I want to hear a respectful guidance to this place.  
- I will... I... my goddess, I...

I turned my back on the staggering man the way I've turned my back on annoying mortals many times before and left the building. I was not raged anymore, I just felt empty inside. Neyta, Freya and Electra came running after me.  
- Thanks, said Freya. Glad you did that. I'd probably beaten the shit out of the man if you hadn't act first. Looking into these sensitive eyes, coloured like distant mountains, I knew that the Vanahemite really ment what she was saying.

We passed the peace allegory and the democracy allegory without really looking at the bronze statues and decided that we had had enough touristing for the day. The sun was low in the west and we all had things to finish before tomorrow. I was going to prepare some kind of welcome speech for the mortal branch of the New Dawn Party.

Then there was Hestia's note. The last time I'd seen my old friend was when she had come together with Helios who was stopping by on the way to his re-found sister. For Selene and Helios it had been easy to reconnect. Helios had thought his sister dead, and was more than happy to hear that she was not only alive and well but also leading a happy family life. These days Helios was actually spending most of the time in his sisters pantheon even if he officially still belonged to the Olympos.

Hestia and Helios had been in such a rush back then, and I had been preoccupied with Argos duties. Now I feared that Hestia and I had drifted apart. What I mostly wanted to do was to postpone our meeting, but I knew I had to see her sooner or later anyway. Normal decency demanded that. I took up a paper and a pen. It would had to be at the end of this week, maybe the day before the Opening of the Nexus.


	20. True Friendship never dies

**True Friendship never dies**

I celebrated the weekend with taking a mortal man to bed. Freya, Neyta and I went undercover as mortals and headed out to sample the nightlife of this never-sleeping city that Ekarantanni had become. Electra had gone home to Troy and her young child. After two bars and tree clubs I found myself in the arms of a handsome dark man. He was barely past 20 and was nothing but outright about what he wanted with me. I mindcalled my friends and then I followed the young man home. We had a night that wasn't sparkling and ethereal like it can be with my own kind, but pleasant enough for me to feel a bit of wellness. Just resting my head on a male chest was a bliss.

I left him sleeping at dawn. A simple note by the bed "We won't be seeing each other again, but thanks / Lady of the night". Then I flew eastwards over the rooftops of Ekarantanni. The sun was beginning to come up. Like a piece of melted iron she rose out of the waves of the Central Ocean, and painted the city in pink. Skyscrapers were shimmering in the early light and the first rays of light shone off spires and towers like they were diamonds on a royal tiara. Ekarantanni was beautiful!

Landing on the top of a skyscraper I took in the view of a city in its most magic dress. Pink became gold became silver as the sun rose, and all changed beneath me, as the city went from drowsy to bustling with activity. The rush hour started in the streets beneath me, and soon the various vehicles weren't getting anywhere.

As long as possible I tried to resist, but after a while I couldn't avoid it anymore. Sitting down with my back against the spire of the skyscraper's toppy roof I gazed northward, across the broad river with its many ships and crossing bridges. And there it was - the Mount Olympos. Not for the first time I wondered how my life could have been had I not left Ekarantanni 15 years ago. If I would be living up there now and how that would be. Olympos seemed so beautiful, so tranquil. And yet so distant, like a dream in the middle of this so overly real city.

- Dreaming of the Olympos? I turned around, meeting a pair of brown eyes. Menoetius from Akaia, long purple hair fluttering like a banner in the wind blowing in from the sea.  
- Keep dreaming, sweetheart, he went on, we're never gonna get there. That's their home. According to those who know, who's been around for a while, they hardly let one who's not one of them up on that top. Should take really special circumstances. Except for their twice a year balls. 'S a privilege to be invited to these.  
- I was part of that group once, I answered. It was not like that then. The doors were open, every immortal and even some mortals were welcome.  
- But times changes, and I guess people with them. Do you care for breakfast, Hera?

I nodded.  
- See, I live here, just below this peak you're resting on. A penthouse flat. And when I felt an immortal landing on my roof at this early hour I guessed that I had got a guest. So welcome to share my humble meal with me!  
- Thanks, Menoetius! By the way, how did you get hold of a penthouse downtown after such a short time? I had to be content with a crappy studio in the suburb Carentha.   
- Connections, Menoetius laughed. And I guess mixed with a large heap of luck too. I ran into this goddess moving out because she had met the man in her life and was moving in with him.

I had a pleasant morning in the company of Menoetius, we talked mostly of the upcoming term in the Nexus, and what we might expect. Then I was off to see Hestia, and I could not help being a little bit nervous. What was I really going to say to my old friend who was now part of the most powerful pantheon in the world while I was a newly elected member of the Hyperpantheon?

o-o-o

But there was never a real reason for being uncomfortable. As soon as I saw Hestia in that café she had suggested, we connected! She was more than happy to see me, bright light in those green eyes. And there was so much to catch up on that we never noticed time flying until we were politely told that the place was closing. (Another thing I'd forgotten about Ekarantanni during my years in the West - these ever-polite people.) So we moved over to a bar, had wine and continued talking.

I quickly went over my non-existent love-life and then went on to my political update - the whole story about bringing Argos into the Union. Thanks to Helios' working on his sister it went smoother than it would have otherwise. But it took a lot of trips to Selene to ensure that her pantheon was really changing its mind about the Union. Then there had been negotiations done with the Union representative Poseidon, and getting elect as a Hyperpantheon delegate.

Hestia in turn told about her own life and the reason for not being in touch as much as she should have wished.  
- Men! The reason for most of the trouble I guess.   
- Yeah. Can't live with them, can't live without them. Anyone I know?  
- Don't know. Name's Pelaithas. Delegate from CONAU. He's been...   
- Conau? Where's that?   
- Oh, I'm sorry. Abbreviation for Central Ocean Northern Archipelagean Union. That's the province consisting of all the small islands in the northernmost archipelago in the Central Ocean.

- So they have one province in common?   
- Yes, what do you think would happen if every island in the Central Ocean would be their own province? I mean, there are thousands. Anyhow, ever since Pelaithas sat foot in Ekarantanni my life has been a mess. It all ended up with me being a de-facto recluse on the Olympos, because I could not stand going down there again and having him on my back all the time.

- Why didn't you just tell him to sod off then?   
- Because I was in love with the jerk. I ended up having a big fall-out with Demeter over him, she thought I should either go down and stay there with him or else finish it off once for all. And all the Faithes know she was right.  
- That means this Pelaithas wasn't welcome on the Olympos? I asked, fearing that some of the rumours I have heard about Olympos being a gated society were true.

- In fact he did spend some time up home, but he managed to get everyone so upset with him that he was in the end asked to leave. First politely then de facto kicked off the mountaintop.   
- Really? What did he do and who did he anger?  
- First and foremost it was this with the kids.   
- Zeus's little twins?

- Well, they're still twins, but they are far from small. Teenagers with every bit of a temperament. I admit that Zeus has been spoiling them quite a bit, especially when Leto has been "Off-Olympos" as delegate for the COSWAU. Still Apollon and Artemis might be wild and are up to crazy things sometimes, but they are no brats. Far from it, they are kind and honest. You can reason with them if you don't scream at them like Pelaithas did. All the time.

- And Twins running to Big Daddy and Big Daddy being pissed with Hestia's beloved?  
- To put it short, yes, that was what happened. And then there's Athena.  
- Who?  
- Zeus's daughter with Metis. You know the last name in the Memorial.

- So Zeus had a daughter who died? I...   
- No, Metis died. She was Eurynome's sister and she and her son Irdonan were the last ones to join the Olympos. They were accepted three years after you left. I don't remember if I told you about that.  
- You did.  
- About a year after they had joined Zeus and Metis fell in love. And I mean really in love. Not like one of these usual escapades of Zeus. This was true love. It was so unexpected that it took a while for the rest of us to understand what was happening, why Zeus changed so suddenly from a playboy into a hardworking and responsible leader with an almost monarch-like stance. We thought it was just the responsibility of being a father and head of The Union. But the old 'Brother was actually falling in love with Metis.

Hestia caught her breath and emptied her glass of wine.  
- And Metis got pregnant and had a baby girl. And this could've been the perfect happy ending in a fairytale. But then came The Last Titans. To cut a long story short, they attacked Zeus and Metis while they were up north in Ganrida holidaying. Zeus could have killed them easily of course but one of them took off with baby Athena. Zeus after, and while Zeus retrieved his daughter the others finished Metis. After killing these Zeus returned home devastated and with Athena in his arms.

Now I was the one who emptied my glass. I was crying. Why hadn't I heard about this earlier?  
- When was this?  
- Seven years ago. Zeus buried himself in work after that. Spent only time with the children. Athena was with him all the time. Demeter had to take care of all the social things and Poseidon did his best to comfort poor Irdonan. Zeus, being the one he is, recovered rather quickly just because there's a world out there in need of him. But I know he still mourns, even if he takes lovers now and then. He just doesn't want to talk about it.  
- I feel so sorry for him. I know how it feels to lose a lover in a battle. Tell him from me it passes. In a way at least. He has to let it take time. But you said it was something with Athena and Pelaithas.

- Yes. Athena is seven. She's sweet but she's even wilder than the twins. Zeus joked once that his three children run off in four directions at a time. Athena takes two of them. And she's brilliantly smart and doesn't take shit. Especially not from strangers. So when Pelaithas tried to push her around she answered back in a way that had him quite taken aback. All this in front of almost the whole Olympos. And you know what the man does?

- No idea.  
- He hits the girl.  
- He what? I could not believe my ears. He hit Zeus's daughter?   
- Yes. Big mistake. He was off before he knew what happened. Zeus personally and without premonition took the guy and literally threw him off the mountain.

- Huh. Big fall.  
- Right. Pelaithas was so surprised that he fell almost to the ground before he could start levitating and avoid crashing right in the middle of some mortals garden. Then Pelaithas comes running to me next time I'm off the Olympos, full of whining about Zeus's behaviour. I don't want anything to do with the jerk again. I mean, a grown-up man who starts to use violence against little girls!

- Who's in, by the way? At the Olympos you mean. Any changes since your last update except for the addition of Athena.  
- Hyperion has left, he lives on the island Egina. But his daughter Eos chosed to stay. Leto has only left temporarily, to represent COSWAU. But she's always up home anyhow, because of her children. Poseidon and Helios are still officially "in", but Helios is in Argos with big sister most of the time and Poseidon is spending a lot of his time with the sea-people these days.

- Can't Leto and Zeus...? I mean, they have children together.   
- I don't think they want to. I guess they have agreed upon being better off as friends. They are very good friends by the way, but they don't have the chemistry as lovers. I don't even think they have been in bed since the twins were made.

- I see. Anyway, the day after tomorrow is the Grand Opening of the Nexus. I want to be home in decent time these last days. Thanks for sharing all this. Tell Zeus I'm so terrible sorry about what happend to his Metis.  
- I certainly will. But now with you here in town we must see each other more often.  
- Of course. Do you by the way know where I can find a decent place to live? Now I'm in a lousy studio in Carentha, and I want something larger and more central. And representative.  
- I'll get you something, Hera, don't worry. I stood up, but then it was like something crossed Hestia's mind and she took my hand:

- You'd be more than welcome up home!   
- You mean - at the Olympos?  
- Yes, that's for sure. After all these years, you are still in a way considered one of us. The lost 'Sister. Hera, you were one of us inside Merioly. Nothing can cut off those boundings. And there's only six of us around these days.

I was speechless to say the least. For more than a minute I remained silent where I was standing looking down at my friend who had remained sitting with my hand in hers. Then I sat down again.   
- You know I can't do that.  
- Even Themis comes back now and then, just to say hi and share a dinner and exchange gossip. And she sometimes brings her daughter Aeirene.

- And Krios? Isn't he together with Themis?   
- Not anymore. I don't know what's the matter with this woman, but she never stays with her men. Hera, if you'd ever change your mind about coming home again...   
- I'm not. Please don't bring the subject up again.  
- All right. I have said it now. Good luck the day after tomorrow and I see you soon.

We hugged and then we parted. I went back home to my boring place in Carentha with its tiny kitchen, shower that ran out of hot water and neighbours who were having very audible sex. My mind was filled with thoughts. Thoughts about what Themis had told me about the Olympos Pantheon mixed with stage-feverish wonderings about the Nexus and Hyperpantheon.


	21. The Divine Delegates

**The Divine Delegates**

The Opening Ceremony was one of the few times when both assemblys were together, mortals mixed with immortals in a blend that would have been impossible anywhere or anytime else. The 34 immortal delegates were sitting off to the right in two rows, and then there were 257 mortal delegates, proportional representation of every province in the union, from the two delegates from Freya's Vanahem islands to the 23 people representing the large and densely populated Thessalia-Ekarantanni.

The Ceremony took place in the Great Hall, which during regular sessions was used as the mortals assembley-hall. The immortals used Golden Hall, a smaller hall on the other side of the Grand Entrance. The Great Hall was a big almost circular room decorated in marble with purple and golden details. Pillars carried spectators balconies and opposite to the entrance was a podium with seats for the presidium and a platform for those addressing the forum. Behind the podium hung the purple Union Banner with its eight pointed golden star, flanked by all the member provinces' banners and coats of arms. The hall had a dome roof, abstract murals painted in the ceiling and surrounding the dome were large windows letting in daylight into the big hall, rays of sunlight shining upon dancing dust.

I ended up sitting next to Kandrios, the delegate from Elesios. He described himself as "an old fox". Elesios, just south of Thessalia-Ekarantanni, had been one of the earliest members in the Union, and Kandrios had been its delegate ever since. He was handsome in a kind of generic way. Olive skin, light-brown eyes. And he was more than pleased to point out all the delegates for rookies like me and Freya, starting with the immortals and adding his own private thoughts about them. Like:

- Aestarion of Crete. The Zeus-wannabe. I think they are related, but to top that Aest tries real hard to copy everything our great leader does. There was nothing even remotely ironic in that last remark. Kandrios was one of these die-hard admirers of Zeus who could have gone up against the whole Titan army had Zeus ever indicated such a thing. Oddly enough there seemed to be more fans of the God of the Ambrosian Curls (whatever _that_ now meant!) these days than ever back in the Order of Blue Gold.  
- Yeah, he does look like Zeus, said Freya. But he's bleaching his hair. I can tell that by the darker roots.

- Next to him sits Dione of Cyprus. She always agrees with the last one speaking. And beside her Protheus of Egarnathon. He keeps seeing Titans everywhere and wants to invest money in some kind of security organisation that is to gather intelligence about presumed Titan hideouts. Otherwise he's reasonable enough, although a little bit too conservative for my taste.  
- Are there still Titan hideouts then? Freya asked. I thought there were all gone by now.  
- Rumours has it that there are some left not rooted out in the Southern Continent. I'm not so sure about that, said Kandrios. Others claim that America is full of them. On the other hand you can say anything about America and people believe you.  
- At least they are gone from our continent, I said.

- Then there's your party comrades Ra, Boreas, Apeliotes and whatshername, Kandrios went on.  
- Scadé, I helped him. Of Valhall.  
- And next to Scadé we have Orion of Attika and Galathea of Argolis. They are a couple, but not a happy one. Fight all the time, break up twice a session and are back together again one month later "happier than ever". A real drama.

I looked at the dark, large and atlethic man and the hourglass-shaped, auburn-haired woman who was resting her head at his sholder. And I got a feeling that I'd seen this Orion somewhere, but I couldn't remember where or when.  
- They seem happy enough at the moment at least, I stated.

- Eridanus, the black man standing up over there, is the delegate from Akarnaiya, Kandrios went on. He's liberal like me. Smart guy but a bit of a bore. The brunette he's talking to is Mnemosyne, delegate from West Arcadia. She's the Libertarian head and rumour has it that she has had an affair with Zeus.  
- Have I heard that before or not? I joked and Kandrios laughed and said:  
- Same rumours about Aethra over there, radical from Raeiadia. Kandrios indicating a tall, pale-skinned girl with black hair in an elaborated hairdo.

- About Leto of COSWAU - Archipelago province that is - it's more than a rumour.  
- Yes I know, the mother of the twins Apollon and Artemis, I answered.  
- Yeah, and also member of the Olympos pantheon, even if she's sort of temporary out to be able to sit as a delegate in the Hyperpantheon. - Can't the Olympians be members of the Hyp? asked Freya.

- In theory not, answered Kandrios. But there are only that many immortals and so many open positions that we have to stretch these rules a bit now when the democracy is still young. Later on I think these rules have to be enforced more to the letter.  
- Why is there such a rule in the first place? Freya wanted to know.  
- It has to do with the distribution and balance of power, I explained. Those rules were created to prevent Zeus from placing his pantheon members all over the Nexus. We don't want to turn the Union into an Olympic family company, do we?  
- Sounds reasonable to me, Freya agreed. Then she commented on another woman, a late-comer who was running in and squeezing herself to an empty seat between Protheus and Hestia's old lover Pelaithas.

- Who's that with the dreads from a nightmare?  
- That's Medusa of Aswee. She's a real nut case.  
- What's she done?  
- You don't wanna know.

Kandrios started to point out mortals and so he did until an expensive dressed man with dark hair in a strict ponytail entered the podium followed by two ladies. Chair Lord Iapetos. The chatter started to die down around us and was killed completely when a young girl banged three times on a big gong. The huge ringing sound echoed in the big hall and up towards the dome roof. After that all you heard was coughings, scraping of feet and the traffic noise from outside.

- Honourable ladies and gentlemen of the Union Nexus, take your seats, the 16:th session of the Nexus is about to begin. The one speaking was a mortal woman standing to the left of an empty throne in the middle of the podium. She was the Speaker of the House, an office always to be designated a mortal, and her name was Irala Aunoskeshera. Mortals carries surnames, we don't. Lady Aunoskeshera reminded silent after those words, and I got a feeling of "was that really it? No ceremonies or stuff?".

Then I saw him. Zeus. For the first time in 15 years, it felt almost surreal. He was entering through the great double doors, followed by a foursome of other immortals, of whom Demeter was the only one I recognised. People started to rise, if it was to salute the Divine King or just to see him better I couldn't tell. A lot also began cheering and applauding.

He had changed. Not only did he wear his platinum blond hair longer these days, his stance, his whole appearance was more regal. Like a king out of the ancient times before the tyrants. He wore a headband, similar to a crown, that held his now shoulder-lenght hair back from his handsome face, was dressed in togas of purple, white and gold and he carried a sceptre symbolising the Divine King's part of the rule over the Union. And most notable of all was his aura, such balance of outstanding powers, and such control over them all. I had never seen anything like that before.

I was staring. But I was not the only one. I heard voices behind me expressing the very thoughts that crossed my mind. And about some mortal delegate who was fainting and had to be carried away. I had to remind myself that this man once had been one of my best friends, and I felt almost giddy thinking of that.

Zeus and his foursome took place at the podium, Zeus in the empty throne in the middle. To the right of him Chair Lord Iapetus sat down and to the left Irala Aunoskeshera. I saw Zeus check out the crowds, taking in every face, and when his shining sky-blue eyes met mine I saw them flickering with recognition - and then a connection. A short "Hi" mindspoken in my head before he went further. The informality in it almost took my breath away. Like all those years hadn't gone by and we had talked with each other as late as yesterday.

Then I felt pain. I turned. It was Freya, clutching my right arm like desperate, her red nails almost piercing my skin. She was staring at Zeus, month wide open, totally enthralled. I turned to my friend:  
- Hello! Freya! Earth calling! Get real, it's just another immortal. Not some kind of a... I realised I had no word.  
- But it's Zeus, said the Norse. He's... He's... He's magnificent!  
- I know. But he's a real guy at the same time. He drinks cocoa in the morning, puts honey on everything, likes music and to dance and stay up late. He's good at boardgame, knows the ancient language and collects old knowledge and ideas. And he can't wear light green.

- Uhu... Freya wasn't really paying attention, and I wondered how many of these things were relevant these days. Of course, the green thing still applied, something he was very aware of. I had only seen him in that colour once - when we had to dress in what was available after the nuclear firestorms over Merioly. Zeus had found a grass coloured jacket and very reluctantly put it on. The colour had made him look sick and Neario had offered him to trade his rusty brown coat instead.  
- Don't ever tell poor Aestarion about the cocoa thing, said Kandrios. It will break his heart, he can't even stand the smell of that beverage.

Zeus held a speech that was inspiring and uplifting although I could hardly remember a word of it. I was busy just looking at him. Taking in every gesture, every move of his features, trying to tell what was different from back then. He had this new regal charisma and he was not as dramatic or over-energetic as I remembered him, but more held together. The frivolous teenager going on 30 was gone.

After Zeus was done Iapetus held his speech which was too long and way too boring. I started to check out the mortal part of the Nexus instead. Mostly white-haired ladies and gentlemen. More solemn and stiff and at the same time more impressed.

Irala Aunoskeshera turned out to be a much better speaker than the Chair Lord. The pudgy old lady was even funny in parts, and got both mortals and immortals to laugh. Even Zeus enjoyed her, I saw. He had been paying attention to the girl by the gong when the Chair Lord was speaking.

o-o-o

That night there was a banquet and a reception, which I remembered as an endless row of new faces and names. I have always been god at connecting names with faces, but this was too much. At least when it came to the mortals - they all tend to look the same after a while. 34 persons of my own kind were easier to remember.

I talked quite a bit with Xenon of Thessalia-Ekarantanni, mostly about the dificulties for new delegates to find housing.  
- Yes, we are aware of that problem too. We've been debating building some kind of apartment hotel for delegates, but there has not really been much more than talking, since the Nexus thinks the City of Ekarantanni should pay for it and the City of course thinks the opposite.

That was Union politics in a nutshell. Always the idea that someone else should bring up the money for things.

Then I talked with Amaterasu, also a newbie, and delegate for Nippon. She was lovely, light-hearted and funny and we connected immediately. She was also having housing problems, and had a terrific solution for it.  
- If they don't get us anything soon we have to move into the Orimpu.

- The what?  
- The Orimpu. Zeus's mountain.  
- The Olympos. Yeah! Way to go girl! I got teary-eyed with laughter. You're right. Imagine the look upon his face when Zeus finds 34 Hyp delegates outside his doors at sunrise tomorrow.  
- And the mortars. They're 257.

Xenon thought we were crazy of course. He said something about "foreigners". Just because he had a splendid villa in a posh area with an outlook over the sea. He shook his head and left us where we were standing with our glasses of wine, fit with laughter over Zeus's imagined facial expression.

Soon I felt someone looking at me, and I turned around to find that very same man on the other side of the room checking us out. I pinched Amaterasu at her shoulder and nodded at Zeus. Then we laughed even more, just because his puzzled expression in real life seemed to fit so well with what we were picturing in our minds.

I went on mingling and around midnight Neyta came up to me and gossiped that Scadé had left hand in hand with Apeliotes and then I noticed that the reception hall was slowly being emptied of people.  
- Guess this is it, said Neyta. And is this girl tired or what? So many impressions, my poor head is spinning. Beyond Neyta's shoulder I noticed Zeus saying good-bye to Protheus and Xenon and started out through the door. It was now or never if I was to catch him tonight, I understood. I gathered all the courage I could find inside, bade Neyta my excuses, and followed the Olympian out of the room.

- Zeus, I called. He turned around, looking at me where I stepped out of the door frame. He stopped in his movement. Flashback to our first meeting almost 25 years ago in that old factory building in Erandoro. I was just as nervous as I had been back then. Maybe even more.

- Hera! Good to see you! I kept wondering when I'd get a chance to seek you out. It seems like I don't have to worry about that anymore. How have you been faring all these years?  
- I... I've been doing... A lot. I've learned politics.  
- Yes, I can tell that. You have become quite a pro to be honest. Bringing in Argos and several other regions to the Union! I should thank you for all that bravado.

- You look different, Eagle. More mature. You're regal.  
- Eagle? No-one calls me that anymore. Suddenly his voice broke. He came up to me and took my hands, almost hesitating, almost insecure. I looked up in those glittering blue eyes, at the vibrant strength and intelligence there. And most of all the kindness.  
- You look different too. The war princess in short hair and practical tunics is gone. That hairdo must have cost a fortune, not to mention the dress. When did you go haute couture?

- When I came here, to Ekarantanni. I felt that I could not look like an average rural goddess anymore. The warrior was trashed already when I came to Argos.  
- You must tell me your story once. We really must get time to talk. There are so many things I want to say to you.  
- And you must tell me... Hestia told me you've been through some terrible things.  
- That's true. But Hera, when are you...

Then someone called out Zeus's name. It was Paladin of Reroro, Nyx' husband and the delegate from COSEAU. And the spell was broken.


	22. Politics and magic

_First of all, thanks to SonofGaea, MmeGiry, diamanda sakura, Sonora the Free and Pendragon for your nice and encouraging words! And to all you other readers out there. _

_  
_**Politics and magic **

The coming months saw Hera of Argos throwing herself heartily into the snake-pit that was the Ekarantanni political arena. I had been right the first night. It was all about the money and who was expected or not expected to pay for this and for that. And who was to be the one on the receiving end. Very little ideology, even lesser big dreams and intelligent solutions. I learned the importance of alliances and knowing the right people. Of gathering mortals and making friends with the press. And most of all - to bee seen.

In Argos it had been oh so different. There I had been The Goddess. Here I was just Hera, one of plenty. Each and every god and goddess had his or her temple on some street of minor significance. And the mortals of the Nexus were not that impressed with immortals, because they saw us each and every day, and they also saw that we were bickering and plotting and playing the very same power games as they were. The only ones who received real respect were the Olympians.

I did some dire mistakes during my first weeks. I was too open, I shared my greatest ideas with others - and found them stolen, and I bet on the wrong horses. But getting burnt is getting learned. I started to do things right about mid-term, when autumn leaves begun to fall and the mornings got chilly. I also learned to tie alliances with people who were less likeable but more useful. Like Protheus - a bit of flatter and he ate out of my hand. Or my own party comrade Boreas, who was just as ruthless as my first impression of him had been. He ended up doing dirtywork for me.

The gung-ho Ra and the clever Freya were also two allies I learned to rely on more and more. We came up with an idea of rigging votes together. A secret weapon we didn't use that often, but when really needed it was invaluable.

Notus on the other hand walked out of me and joined the Libertarian Party and Zephyros let me knew that he was better made for being a local deity, and that he was leaving the Nexus after this session.  
- But who to take your place? You're the only Nanarian god, I have come to understand.  
- Maybe I can find some replacement elsewhere. Or send a mortal.  
- A mortal? No-one has done anything like that before.  
- Someone has to be the first.

- But... I don't even know if that is allowed.  
- Don't worry, I'll find out. I'm sorry, Hera for letting you down, but I just can't take all this high-class gaming and plotting. I'm too much of a corny country boy and I feel stupid and dumb.  
- Zephyros, dearest, this is your first term. We all have to learn. Just like in the war, first you train martial arts and then you go out after the Titans.  
- No, this is not like the war. Here you have to get your practice against the Titans.

- You're right. But last night I had Electra crying in this very room because she felt that everybody was out to get her and Troy. I just had to tell her that she was inexperienced and that she will learn over the years.  
- And what did she say?  
- She cried a bit more and said that she would never learn, and then she realised that she was the only alternative Troy had. There's only her and her son. And he's 12.  
- So you think I should reconsider? Zephyros looked at me over the desk with sad, brown eyes.  
- Do it, Zephyros! You are a god. You are the god for Nanara, and you have a responsibility. Don't walk out of it just because it feels hard sometimes.

In the end Electra became one of the slickest and smartest in the Hyperpantheon. But it took her almost 200 years to acquire that position. And Zephyros ended up staying, but left as soon as his son Gion was old enough to take over.

We did take hits, us newcomers. But that was only natural, Kandrios assured me of that.

- Happens all the times when new delegates arrives. They get used, fooled and stepped upon. Some of them leave, others learn to fight back. You are of the latter stock, Hera, I can tell. But I guess that has to do with your experiences in the past. The war and also those gods you had to fight in Argos.

There is a whole lot to say about Kandrios by the way. We had a love affair, but as many others in the Hyp, we never let that one come in the way of our profession. I guess I fell for Kandrios because he was intelligent and witty. And because he did not fuzz about with courting, he just took me to bed. I have always preferred directness with men. Men who just let things happen. Like Neario. Another reason for connecting with Kandrios was that when I finally managed to find decent housing it became in the same apartment rise as he lived in. In Danakeia, that upper class area by the foot of the Olympos.

It was the same week Cheiron came visiting Ekarantanni, bringing his Centaur Marching Band. The last years he had spent training mortal youths in various antics at the horseback, everything from racing to parading and a lot of disciplines between. Some of these youngsters had become really talented under my old friends tutelage. They were almost as skilled as himself, since he learned them the secret ways of communicating with horses, turning the horse and the rider into an entity.

Among these riders were a group who was playing brass music in a marching style reminding of those old war songs from the Blue Gold. A bit too much "oomph-oomph" for my taste but most of the others seemed to love it, and before we knew it, Cheiron and his Tattoo had become a yearly event in Ekarantanni.

And Amaterasu? She actually realised her crazy idea about moving in at the Olympos. It was Leto who brought me the news. She and I had taken up contact again, and we often dined in downtown restaurants together Hestia, Leto and I. In that sense I almost felt like I was back with my old friends again, even if I never saw Demeter and had only met Iris, Eos and Astraios once or twice.

Zeus had told Leto about falling for Amaterasu, and Leto broke the news to Hestia and me at the Crazy Duck on a rainy Autumn Month weekend. Hestia was laughing:  
- Good old Zeus! I go away to Mychenae for a fortnight and when I come back our dear Eagle has picked himself a Nipponese sun goddess.  
- Did this happen overnight or what? I asked Leto. I spoke to Amaterasu just last... Wait a moment, there was something with her back then. She seemed aloof. Like her mind was somewhere else. I couldn't put my finger on it back then, but now I get it. Faith! She and Zeus! What a couple!  
- Indeed, Leto was saying. And I believe this is serious stuff. He has already taken the little delegate up home.

Then Leto went on to talk about her children, Apollon and Artemis. She did that most of the time to be true. The twin's education, their teenage dramas and their volatile and creative minds, so full of ideas and surprises. And my politely pretended interest soon became a real one. These children of Zeus and Leto were up to all kinds of things all the time, a never ending conversation subject. This time it was mostly about their divine training.

- All right, Zeus will be spoiling them to pieces if I don't watch it, but at the same time he is one amazing teacher.  
- Really? I asked Leto. I didn't know he had it in him.  
- Yes, because he can create inspiration and interest. He makes people want to listen. This last week he has been teaching Apollon and Artemis magic. I don't really know the use for it but the twins love it.

- Magic? I asked.  
- Manipulation of the Giga Constructs. Hera, I see that this doesn't really say anything to you, but it's about making things happen on a level involving more than the three dimensions we speak of daily. It's...  
- I think it's better to show, Hestia interrupted. How about that knife-stunt Apollon keeps doing all the time.

- Well, said Leto and hesitated, which made me even more curious, because when Leto is hesitating, it's often about amazing stuff.  
- Come on! I urged Leto and she turned around to make sure no mortals were watching us, before taking up a steak knife and pushing it right trough her left hand until it entered at the other side. No shielding in action, no blood no nothing, she just grabbed the blade on the other side and pulled the utensil out.

- How did you do that? As far as I know you can't push an iron blade against the hand, the shielding would break it.  
- It's not as special as it seems, Leto confessed. I don't really push the knife through my hand, that's only the way it looks. In fact I'm pushing it through the fifth dimension. "beyond" the hand so to say. Or "below" depending on how you see it.

It didn't make sense to me, but I wasn't that good at these things back then. So Leto went on talking about Apollon's skill in music and Artemis' interest in biology and field studies of nature and wildlife.

The day after I told Neyta and Freya about Zeus and Amaterasu, and with Neyta getting hold on gossip it soon travelled all over town. Before the first snow-fall all the Nexus knew that the Nipponese delegate and the Lord of the Olympos were a couple.

I saw them together for the first time only a couple of days later. Amaterasu is petite and delicate and beside Zeus she almost looked diminutive. And with those beautiful Asian features, big, slanted eyes and red lips, no wonder that the Thundergod became enthralled. But the woman beside me was devastated. Electra broke down and cried as soon as Zeus and Amaterasu were gone, and I held her in my arms.

- Thirteen years, and I thought I had forgotten him. But upon coming here I realised that I had not.  
- Elli... I started.  
- I have tried to win him back all of the summer and autumn, but to no avail. He doesn't even see me. I'm nothing to him!  
- Yes you are, you're the mother to his son.  
- Yes, a boy who has to belong to Troy, which has no gods otherwise. Whereas he has three children up on the Olympos to care for and love. He hardly ever asks about Dardanos, it's like he's not that important.

- I don't think... I hope you're not right about that, Elli. It might also be the case that he trusts you and knows that you take good care of the boy.  
- Hera, do you really think so? I nodded.

But while holding Electra there was something else pounding on my mind. An odd feeling inside connected to Zeus. And to Elli and Amaterasu as well. Almost like jealousy. They both had something together with Zeus. And I had - nothing...


	23. The Olympos

**The Olympos **

It was bound to happen sooner or later. My first visit to the Olympos took place in Snow Month. It was Hestia who managed to lure me up to the mountain top.  
- It's my 50:th birthday, and I want my most special friends around me. Hera, if you're not there I'll be really sad. So please swallow your pride and come along. If just for one day and just for me.  
- All right. I will do that. But just because it's you.

Hestia laughed and took me in her arms. I saw real happiness in her eyes. She must have invested a lot of feelings in this thing. And I really wanted to be there for her. She had been there for me so many times through the years. It was a birthday for Faith's sake. And it was only for a day. Then I would be back down where I belonged again. With Kandrios and my usual bunch of friends.

On top of that I had to admit that I was curious about the Olympos and its new members. Apollon and Artemis were 14 and little Athena had just turned eight. I wanted to see if they resembled their dad, and in what way. Then there were all the others whom I hadn't even seen or talked to in years. What would it be like to meet them again? And would we have anything (or maybe a lot) to say to each other?

And Zeus of course. I really wanted to talk to Zeus. We had so much unsaid. Things and thoughts that had been lying around at least in my soul for more than 15 years. I doubted that it would be time for us to talk about all these things this time, but I could at least get a chance to push him in the right direction. Decide a time and a place perhaps.

o-o-o

I left home in the midmorning, wearing my warmest cloak over the tunic. The day was freezingly damp and cold, that's winter for you in Ekarantanni. Not snow but icy winds from the Ocean. And a damp chill that goes right through your bones if you don't shield yourself or at least put something on.

The cloak carried the New Dawn Peacock symbol on its back, it had been made for campaigning back in the early years. That stylised Peacock had become tied to me as a person these days, almost as much as it was tied to the New Dawn Party.

While flying in over the summit of Olympos I could finally have a closer look at it. I had seen it so many times during my past months in Ekarantanni. We all glanced up there now and then, curious, nosy, interested and a lot of us longing for a reason to really go there. And questioning everybody (like Amaterasu) who had been there for every pointless detail and then some.

The summit was larger than expected, and there were beautiful gardens and fields, an artificial sea and some canals and waterfalls. Dominating the area was the large palace where the Olympians lived, a classy building which spoke of both fortunes and good, slightly avant-gardistic/futuristic taste. The pillar-porticos, the golden dome and the hanging gardens were nothing I hadn't seen before, but the open, octagonal courtyard and the large, glass roofed staircase hall with the indoor waterfalls and an ever-burning fire in the middle of a pond surrounded by mirrors and huge plants was definitely daring architecture.

I entered through gates of iridescent crystal and walked over floors which looked like gold, but were semi-transparent and lit from beneath and I breathed in the flagrance of a thousand different exotic flowers. Now, who had designed this abundance? And was it made to put people in awe or make them feel welcome? I had hard to make up my mind about that.

Hestia's birthday lunch was set for 16 people, and first I feared that I would be the only outsider (I had an old figure of 15 Olympians in my head). But it turned out that the Olympians were only 13 these days, including the children. And the teenagers (Apollon, Artemis and Metis' son Irdonan) were not around. Neither was Poseidon. Selene's pantheon was there instead, save for Goladia, and so was Amaterasu and the delegate Mnemosyne of West Arcadia. The Libertarian leader seemed as uncomfortable seeing me arriving as I felt around her.

There was a chill between me and Demeter that I couldn't put a finger on. Might have been the flirting look her husband Oreynadan gave me. He was cute and had a kind of prankster looks in slanted, dark eyes, and was probably turning Demeter jealous now and then. Eos and Astraios wanted eagerly to hear my Western stories and Iris was interested in how I did my hair and what I used to get it dark blue. In turn I was longing for Selene's Argos updates.

At the strike of midday hour Zeus entered with Athena by his hand. The yellow-dressed Athena was a cutie indeed, already at eight you could tell that she was going to grow up to be a stunning beauty. With her fathers colours in a heart shaped face and a radiant smile she would be able to eat men in another eight years or so. She let go of her father and started to run around saying "hi" to everyone, sampled a grape from a side table in the run, and then she came up to me. There she stopped dead.  
- You're Hera, the lost Olympian, right? she said.

- Hera is correct, I answered. But about lost Olympian... I never was one.  
- That's what I mean, Athena said. Dad said you were supposed to be one.  
- I... well not really... And you're Athena, right?   
- I'm the one. No nicknames allowed!  
- Fine by me. Then I'll know how to adress you, Athena.  
- And you were in with daddy and the others killing Titans in their own city.

- That's true. I was one of the ten who went into Merioly 18 years ago to get rid of Chronos. It sounded like such an easy deed, dropping it as a one-liner like this, I thought.   
- I wish I could have been around back then killing Titans. Athena swung an imaginary sword around her body. It sounds so exiting.  
- Athena, it wasn't really that exciting. Most of the time it was scary, gory and terrible. We were hungry, frozen and filled with fatigue for not getting enough sleep. At the best parts it was a plain bore.

- Doesn't sound like that when daddy tells about it, Athena insisted. Hestia came to my help:  
- That's because your dad likes to tell you all the cool parts. About the bravery and the victorious Order. But I guess Hera puts the perspective into a little bit more realistic angle.   
- Boring you mean, said Athena and changed subject on a spot like only children her age can. Did you know that the owls have hatched eggs by the way.

- Oh, really! We must check them out later, Hestia answered her. Then she told me about an owls nest that Athena had discovered. Apparently the girl fancied climbing around the Mount Olympos and discover things. One day she had found two nesting owls and was now checking them out on a daily basis, keeping all the rest "up home" updated on the owl development.

During the meal I spent most of the time talking to Iris sitting in front of me and to Helios next to me. Iris let me in on some Ekarantannian details that I had missed to pick up:   
- I mean really, Hera, you don't know why it's called the Spear of Tomorrow?   
- No. But the building looks a bit like a spear...  
- The architect. She got pregnant during the creation of the tower and thus named it after her husband's... Well you know.   
- You still display that dirty imagination of yours! When are you ever going to grow up?   
- Never. Being a grown-up seems so boring.

Astraios and Tiaros were also interesting lunch partners who kept exchanging political gossip. Zeus was sitting a bit away, I had people like Helios and Selene between us. And I failed to get his attention, he was either talking to Eos and Selene about the implications of this new invention called the telephone, or being cosy with Amaterasu, feeding her strawberries dipped in whipped cream.

After the lunch the group split up. Leto had promised me the "Grand Tour" and while she and I walked around the Olympos, time flew. First stop was Athena's wards, the owl family. Athena took pride in these birds almost as if they were her own kids, and she couldn't wait to show them to us. After that she lost interest in us old ladies, and ran off to "do other stuff".

- Isn't it lonely for her living with all these grown-ups and a trio of teenagers who probably consider her a pain in the ass when she wants to hang around them? I asked.

- She has a group of imo friends she plays a lot with, Leto told me.  
- What's an imo?  
- Oh, sorry, that's an Apollon-ism I guess I've picked up. Means immortal.  
- Makes sense. Teenagers always invent new words. I get a lot of teen lingo from Maia who works at our HQ. You know, Atlas' daughter. Go on!

- Eridanus of Akarnaiya has two kids her age and so has Paladin of COSEAU's assistant Narlidda. Narlidda's daughter Nike is the same age, and they are best friends, she and Athena. And now and then Themis pops up with little Aeirene. She's two years younger and Athena is her big and absolute idol.

It was great talking to Leto, she was not in any way using the "Olympic Tour" as a way of showing off. She simply stated facts like "here's the swimming pool" and "here's the library" and told me funny anecdotes connected to the different places. Like when Apollon and Artemis had poured bad tub foam in one of the fountains, and there were bubbles all over the place. Or when Chair Lord Iapetus was up here and managed to get himself locked in down in the wine cellar, and nobody heard his mindcalls, because all were so busy quarrelling over:

- ...some mistake Poseidon did that I can't for my life remember today. But when the poor Chair Lord realised no-one was hearing him he decided to take advantage of the situation instead. And when we finally discovered that Iapetus was missing it didn't take us long to find the now quite drunk politician. Chaos, Hera, you should see how ashamed he was after that little mishap!

Then it was time for supper. We were only six for that meal, Hestia, Zeus, Leto, Astraios, Iris and I. The Argospantheon members had left, taking Helios and Eos with them as had Mnemosyne and Amaterasu. The latter was going home to Nippon for some local holiday. Demeter and Oreynadan were dining out on the town and Athena "was not hungry".  
- This feels like old times, Hestia stated, when we had chatted lightly for a while. Look at us! All of us sitting here were around when we still lived down in 'Tanni, in the palace by the sea.

It felt almost like she was right. We had fun, laughed at the same jokes as back then as well as to some new ones, we gossiped about mutual friends and acquaintances and I took the liberty of resting in this illusion for a while. I drank some more wine and told once again how I had defeated Erebus after he had tried to kill Argus.

But reality was calling, I had to be back home. There was an important vote coming up early next day and all of us New Dawners had to participate in it. I needed to contact them all to make sure they were showing up. So I said my good-nights, and left, a bit more content and at peace with myself. I had a feeling that this was far from my last visit up here. I could come back later and it would not feel that strange.

When I was walking through the courtyard garden towards the main entrance I heard a familiar voice calling my name. I turned, my heart skipping a beat.

Zeus laid his hands on my shoulders, looking deep into my eyes.   
- So when are you finally coming home, my friend?  
- Home? Where I live now is home...   
- Hera, Hera, it's been fifteen years. Sixteen in a couple of months. You can't seriously still be pissed for one single mistake I did so many years ago.

- It's not about that. Maybe it was from the start. The first year I almost despised you. I felt that you had ruined a friendship that had been special and valuable to me. Then I forgave you, it was, as you said, just a human slip. After a few drinks. I was also to blame, taking part as actively as I did. But then - I had already started a new life. I had new obligations, new things going on for me.  
- But where is the problem now? You're here. I mean in 'Tanni. You could as well live here as down there in those square flats.

- Zeus, you know as well as I do that I can't be a part of the Olympos Pantheon and in the Immortal Assembley at the same time.  
- You could always "do a Leto". Live here as a more or less permanent guest.  
- I don't want to be your guest, Eagle. Not more than a few days like this now and then.  
- That guest status is just a name, to get around the problem of COSWAU being without a delegate otherwise. This is Leto's home as well as mine. And yours, Hera.

- You make it sound so easy.  
- But it is.  
- It's not. Not for me at least. It's going to take a mega-long list of explanations to a mega-bounce of people if I go here. Everyone will say...  
- ...that you were one of the 'Sisters in the Order. And this is the family you have, and want to live with. What is a pantheon really? It's about people who love, like and appreciate each other. And want to be together.

Suddenly I felt that stinging sensation in my eyes that told me that I was bound to cry. And probably I would have. Maybe I'd cry at Zeus's chest like that night when Neario died. And maybe I had caved in and came "home" as Zeus expressed himself. Just because he had put his gentle finger on a tender spot. The family thing. I was lonely, and I wanted so dearly to have a family.

But we got interrupted by a young man - or rather a boy who came running, banging through the doors. Blond, wild curls, tall and tawny. Same sparkling blue eyes as his father.   
- Dad, can I stay in Souroza tonight? There's gonna be a concert and I wanna...   
- Apollon, just a moment! Where is your sister and Irdonan?  
- Mimi's down in Nanetrankar shopping. With Callisto. And Irdo hangs with those imos from the Conservative party. Isitokeyifigo?

- No it's not. Not at least until you and I have had a talk. Man to man. But this is Hera. Say "hi" to her first.   
- Hi... the boy met my eyes without really seeing, his mind was elsewhere, fluttering around like a butterfly.   
- I wanna go to that concert. Shiori's going and so is Miris. I want...   
- We're going to talk about that, said Zeus gentle but firm. Now if you excuse me, Hera... But later I'm going to have a talk with you as well, my dear Hyperpantheon delegate. About a lot of things. I'm going to make it a whole day. At least. I'll get in touch with you.


	24. Open Forum

**Open forum**

This telephone thing. It was a bit like mindcall, you could get hold on somebody who wasn't around, given that he or she was near a telephone and you knew the number to that one. Today it's no marvel, I know! It's perfectly normal that everybody run around with at least one phone in their pockets. But it was not until Hermes started to take interest in the things they got mobile to start with. And in that year 16 after Union Foundation (UF:16) the telephone was an amazing thing. Especially for mortals, who lacked abilities for telepathy and mindspeech. And everybody was talking about it.

I tried my first 'phone in the last month of that year, calling up Kandrios from the New Dawn Office. The Liberal Party had their HQ just a block away and we could as well have mindcalled but I wanted to try this new invention. And it was almost spooky hearing his voice in that funnel, like my beloved was locked inside there somewhere. I almost expected to hear him going "let me out, Hera, please let me out". But all he could talk about was lunch.

The next talk of the town was about Amaterasu falling in love with an old Warbrother of mine, Androdorus of Angresidor. Apparently Zeus's and her relationship was history. I couldn't help wondering what had gone wrong. Had Zeus cheated on her as well?

o-o-o

- I thought you and Zeus... Freya started. Amaterasu shook her head.  
- No, not anymore. It was just a brief thing. Zeus-san is a great man. But not for me. I respect him, but I can not love him.  
- So he's up for grab now. The Norse goddess was giggling. Catch as catch can. Hera?  
- Come on, Freya, you know he's not my type. How about yourself?

Freya became speechless for the first time ever since I'd met her. Slightly red cheeks.  
- What about Trojan Electra? said Amaterasu. Or Neyta?  
- Neyta's probably the only one who has not expressed any interest in Thundergod, I said, looking out the window in the direction of the Nexus building, where Neyta was working overtime with that general education legislation. I'd bet money on Dione of Cyprus instead, I heard myself saying.  
- I'll go for Elli, said Freya. She wants him back.  
- And I'll bet on you, Freya, said Amaterasu. 500 credits.

I couldn't believe I was hearing this. We were actually holding money on who'd be Zeus's next bed-partner.  
- What about Thetis of Ithaca, said Amaterasu's party comrade Sorawe of Thanigra. Isn't she Zeus's type? Elegant and athletic and all that. The lamplight was shining off Sorawe's tar-black skin, making her look like she was made out of ebony.  
- That little party comrade of mine is out to get COSEAU:s Paladin, I gossiped.

- Isn't he married with kids? asked Sorawe.  
- Doesn't matter to her it seems, I answered. Poor Nyx, she's in for some tough competition here.  
- Bitch, Sorawe snapped. And went on: If someone was going for my Inyaos, I'd have her neck. But how about you, Freya? You're the only one who's not been spilling your beans when it comes to your love life. It's time for you to "do a Pandora".

- A what? Freya looked puzzled.  
- That was a goddess back in one of the earlier years of the Union. She was married to the Epimetheus, former of Earaxxes and brother of Prometheus who died in Merioly. And one day she got paid by a mortal journalist for telling the whole story about all the men she's been having beside her husband. And let's just say that all chaos broke lose. There wasn't a dude she hadn't been with. Well almost. One, whom she claimed was her last hope.  
- And who was that may I ask? said Freya.  
- Zeus of course. Is he the one you are hoping for too?

- Eh, no... Freya hesitated. Or - he's interesting of course. Someone for late night fantasies. But I don't think... my last hope. I'm hoping, in vain probably, to find someone to match the love of my youth. Od. Whom the Titans took away and killed.

o-o-o

I still didn't know what Freya was up to. I thought about it later that night when my friends had left. I was standing out on the balcony, shielded against the chilly wind from the sea and watching the lunar eclipse. As the moon turned blood red I couldn't help wondering if Zeus was more than a "late night fantasy" for my Norse college. There was something showing in her blue eyes every time Zeus's name came up. I decided to find out, if only to still my curiosity.

o-o-o

- So Faith destined you to kill Chronos and then to seize power in the vacuum left after him? Goladia asked.  
- No, said Zeus. I don't believe in faith like that. We all have our free will. And I was the one who decided to go after Chronos, and then to take and to hold power after that. If I hadn't done that we could have had anarchy. No Union. No peace. Nothing ever remotely like the democracy and the balance of power we're having in this Nexus.

- Is that so certain? Surely someone else could have...  
- Could have, yes, said Zeus. But we don't know that. I didn't know if someone would have been able to seize power if I hadn't. Neither did I know what kind of person that might have been. Maybe a "good guy". Maybe another Chronos. I decided to not risk it and instead seize power and use it to try to create a world I believed in.

Chaos, he was good! The older goddess hadn't a chance against him. The debate had gone on since the early afternoon and now it was already past midnight. But that was the whole point with "Open Forum". Any Union immortal could ask anyone else almost any question, as long as it was remotely related to Union politics. And what had started as a security debate soon became focused on the Titan question. Obsolete according to some, definitely relevant to others.

- The best way for the Titans to take out almost all of us is to get at this place, had Protheus of Egarnathon said. How do we prevent that from happen?  
- How could they make that happen in the first place? Leto of COSWAU had returned. They're not strong enough these days.

And it went on in that style. Someone had feared that the Titans might nuke us.  
- Doesn't harm us, but it kills the mortals. Leto again.  
- But that must not be let to happen either! said Xenon of Thessalia-Ekarantanni.

Zeus had arrived around dinnertime. And he was soon brought up to the platform and had to answer a lot of questions about the possibility for the Titans to use nuclear forces to attack the Union with. Zeus had explained that the nuclear threat was without ground, and that there had only been Chronos being in possession of that kind of power.  
- The tyrant had some offspring with similar, but much weaker abilities. Titans, who we encountered during the last months of the war. But they have all been tracked down and terminated now. And whatever Titans might be hiding on other continents pose no threat anymore, because we now have a warning system that tells us if anything remotely threatening is bound for Union borders.

- I told them that, frowned Kandrios in my ear. Four hours ago.  
- I know, honey, but they wanted to hear Zeus say that.  
- What's wrong with my knowledge? I am after all chairman of the Security Council. I'm sick and tired of never being listened to. I have people out there working for me, gathering intelligence about threats from both within and outside of the Union. I've found other things more relevant to focus on. And all those jerks can do is harping on about Titans and crying for Zeus.  
- Hush, I'm listening to this.  
- Well, go on listening! I'm going home.

- Kandrios! You're being childish now.  
- Guess I'm only tired and need some rest. Forgive me, Hera. But I can't listen anymore to something that has been said millions of times before. By myself not the least. My beloved rose and walked out of the Golden Hall. But I stayed, I enjoyed every minute of these debates. They never got boring, just because everyone could say his or her hearts meaning. This was not tied to any vote or any protocol, it was just like a fancy version of the dinner table talk.

Nevertheless, after Zeus had defeated Goladia in the Faith debate the air had gone out of the discussion. Might have done with the late hour and it might also have to do with more and more people realising that the Titan threat 18 years after the fall of Chronos was not really a threat anymore. People were saying good-night, beginning to leave. And I listened with half an ear to Androdorus of Angresidor and Aethra of Raeiadia discussing the value of intelligence concerning Union Security.

- Kandrios was not in the Order which saved us from Chronos, yet he is heading the Security Council. Is he really the man for that chair? asked Aethra.  
- He is indeed, replied Androdorus. He was with the East-East movement. An independent guerrilla but no less competent. They had no Zeus, that's true. But they managed to keep the Eastern East Coast relatively Titan free. And even if Kandrios was not from the area he was a general who...

So that was the reason for people not trusting Kandrios' knowledge. I must have a word with him about that. He might need to work a bit on his reputation as a warrior. Everybody was talking about the Order of Blue Gold, but there had been more resistance movement groups during the war. Successful ones. In spite of that they tended to be forgotten, because Zeus had led the victorious one. The one people remembered.

I rose, decided to go home too. It was a holiday tomorrow, the Constitution Day, that was true. But I was tired and needed to go to bed anyhow.  
- Hera? Zeus was coming up to me through the aisle.  
- Hi! You were fab on the platform. Goladia got muted.

- You don't like her, Zeus was stating.  
- She doesn't like me. Nor you.  
- Maybe she likes no-one. Zeus pushed a hand through his hair, getting rid of strands hanging in his eyes. What you doing tomorrow?  
- Sleeping.

- How about a visit up home instead? We have both agreed upon that we need to talk. And what day is better than Constitution Day? No obligations for any of us to visit our faithfuls or anything like that. There will be people in the temples, but not more than any weekday. You can follow me tonight already. There are always guest rooms ready.  
- Sounds fine by me. I smiled at Zeus and he smiled back.  
- Shall we go then, he said and offered me his arm.

I took it and even as I could feel peoples eyes on my back (Uh-hu - now the gossip is going to start, Neyta's even still around) I felt that I couldn't care less, because for the first time in ages I didn't feel uncomfortable around Zeus. I just felt like we had turned paper both of us and were ready to start anew. As friends. Nothing more, nothing less.

We waited outside for Leto, Oreynadan and Eos, the other Olympians who had been in Open Forum, (Demeter and Astraios had been there too, but they had left earlier.) and after a while the trio arrived. None of them looked remotely surprised to see me in the company of Zeus. Or at lest they didn't show it.  
- So that's the last Open Forum for this year, said Eos. Has been a rough year. Hope next one's going to be better.

- With lesser newbies in it's bound to be, Leto answered. Sorry, Hera, but a lot of newcomers always means a turbulent session.  
- Which are the new nations next year anyway? I asked.  
- Only Lukandia on the Eastern West Coast so far, said Zeus. Avalon has a referendum next week, but I think it's too early for them to join.  
- You foresee a no? asked Oreynadan.  
- Yes I do. And there are more problems that have to be solved before Avalon is ready to join, Zeus answered. But let's go home before we have to answer more questions about Titans with nukes. I'm sick of it now to be honest.


	25. Spring in the air

**Spring in the air **

Up at Olympos I realised I was hungry. I hadn't eaten anything more than a banana since breakfast. There had been so much going on that food had not had a chance to be on my mind. So Zeus took the host's responsibility and had the nymphs conjure up an instant meal of soup, sandwiches and fruit, all washed down with white wine. And in the end some ice-cream. Not a visit to the Olympos without ice-cream!

Then he and I sat down in a neat little living room with outlook over the sea and the Ekarantannian skyline with its glittering neon and a fireworks display which might have something to do with the upcoming holiday. The others went to bed.

- Hera, he said, I'm glad you seem to have dropped some of that - in lack of a better word - soul shielding you've been displaying around me since your return to 'Tanni.  
- It was - unintentional. I guess. I didn't want to... I didn't really know how to treat you. You used to be one of my best friends. You and Hestia. The people I could talk about everything with. Then I left, and came back to find you all hiding away on a mountaintop. And you had become Divine King. Distant even to the immortal population.

- We were not hiding. At least not from you. On the contrary.  
- I came to that understanding. Later.  
- I'm sorry if this year in Ekarantanni has made you feel uncomfortable among your old friends. We needed the Olympos to be able to go away from the everlasting buzz of the city without loosing contact with the important things. We wanted to be around, to be seen and trusted but at the same time have a place where we could be ourselves. Without curious, prying eyes. It wasn't so much about me. In fact, I like to be around people.

- But Iris for instance, Zeus went on, she's more sensitive and she felt stalked from time to time. And Eurynome and Astraios were also starting to feel uncomfortable with this everlasting attention. So I decided something had to be done. And then my eyes fell on this somewhat solitaire mountaintop.

- You've always been so caring about people, Zeus. I remember the very first time I saw you. In Erandoro. Anzoura had lost someone she loved, and you held her close, helped her through that immediate grief. I never learned who it was. A lover?  
- It was Reikon. Her son.  
- It became my first impression of you. That you cared. At the same time you were none one dared to alienate. A dangerous enemy.

- I guess... that's me in a nutshell. I guess that's what life made me into. I recognise those kinds of losses. I know what they feel like. You and I - we have both been through these experiences, loosing the ones we love. You saw yout father and then Neario die. I saw the Chronites kill my mother.  
- And then this thing more recently... Metis...

When I mentioned Metis' name, Zeus breathed in hard and and squeezed his eyes together, finger and thumb pressing the upper parts of his nose.  
- It's OK to cry, I told, putting my hand on his sholder. As you said yourself, we both know.

Then he started to tell. He told the bittersweet story of Metis and himself, the very one I'd got from Hestia almost nine months ago. But while she had given me the five minute summary this was Zeus's story, taking several hours to go through. It included his and Metis' first encounter in the old Nexus building, the first time he had been involved in a child birth, Athena, the reason he never went further with a relationship with Electra (falling for Metis) and other events connected to that story.

And last of all the horrible event with the Titans. Two lovers camping on the beach, way out from civilisation, there to enjoy each other and rejoice in their love and their little baby girl. Everything a paradise until the terror comes once again for them. One of the females grabbing the sleeping Athena, Zeus after them, manages to get his child back and to return only to find his beloved murdered.  
- And there she was, lying on the rocks bent in a weird angle, blue eyes staring empty into the sky, energy signature gone.

- I traced them down, those murderers, he continued. I wanted them to suffer the way my poor Metis had been suffering. And the way I was suffering right then. But at the same time I had to be chaste. Hold back my raving pain. I couldn't bring in more suffering, because I feared that my young daughter was absorbing it. So I just zapped them. Enough voltage for an instant kill in a single blast. Most of the time revenge is a luxury you can't afford.

He talked a bit more. The sky outside had turned dark blue. Morning was arriving. Zeus told of the insecurity of being a lone father to a baby girl, and the help he had got from his beloved 'Sisters.  
- Both my real sister and the others. They became extra-mothers for little Starchild. But even with all those friends around me I still knew there was one missing.  
- Metis?  
- No, you. Metis was gone, there was nothing I could do except for crying myself to sleep in the nights. But you were out there conquering the West, my brave lost Olympian.

- Was I really missed, Eagle? Even then?  
- Yes you were, Peacock.

- Peacock! I started to laugh. You're right. That New Dawn party symbol. It has become... I'm not going to be rid of that one anymore, am I?  
- No. It has been too connected to you, even after just one year in Ekarantanni. Everyone knows you as the Peacock Lady. Why a peacock by the way?  
- They're beautiful birds. Love their colouring. And there were wild ones in Argos. Not many, but there was a couple living in my garden. I saw them from my window every morning and started to draw them. And then, one day I found myself with the embryo to this stylised party symbol we're carrying now. Its tail feathers like a rising sun – New Dawn.

- I remember you always had pens and papers with you back in the early days, and you did some amazing things. Are you still into drawing? Zeus asked.  
- Not that much anymore. Haven't got the time these days.

Suddenly I felt tiredness in my eyes. Lids heavy with sleep. Zeus started to talk about political parties and marketing them but my mind drifted and his words melted with pre-sleep dreams of Titan terror mixed with angry delegates in the Golden Hall of the Nexus. My last conscious memory was Zeus laying a blanket over me.  
- Goodnight Peacock, sweet dreams.

o-o-o

The next day it felt so oddly natural to take up the tread where we had finished. Before that I had breakfast with a handful Olympians in a sunny hall overlooking the sea. It almost felt like outdoors with those big windows and potted plants. Zeus still drank his cocoa and the three teenagers were there, Artemis and Irdonan fighting over something while Apollon busied himself with eating. Astraios and Demeter were eagerly discussing some news in the finance section of the paper and Hestia was asking for company - she wanted to go downtown and watch the parades. And once again - no one seemed to express any surprise that I was around.

After Irdonan and Artemis had "Yes it would", "No it wouldn't" at each other enough times I couldn't help asking what it was about. Apollon made a face like "Why bother", but Artemis turned to me, asking:  
- Lady Hera, don't you think a boulder that size would crack the skull of a mortal? She indicated the cocoa-pot from which Iris was helping herself to more beverage.

- No, it's too whelping small, Athena's older brother stated.  
- It would, I said. Especially if you drop it from some altitude. Remember, the mortals have no shielding that employs the instant a stone like that would touch their aura. Then their sculls are made of a much weaker cellular structure. On top of that they have very slow healing abilities.

- Right! Artemis exclaimed. Their brain-tissue would explode all over and with it blood and bone fragments…  
- Artemis! Zeus lectured. There are people here eating. That conversation topic is not appropriate at a meal table.  
- Irdo started it, the young, dark-haired girl said. He wanted to know…  
- But you uttered the yuck, Apollon cut in. But I think that if you smashed a stone into…  
- Enough, Zeus said.

- But why are mortals so fragile? Artemis insisted.  
- Guess it's us that's durable, her father answered. We're of a later evolved branch of humanity. A bit updated. A bit refined and more fail-safe. Re-read your biology homework, Mimi! It's all in there!

o-o-o

After breakfast it was my turn to be the narrator. Zeus wanted to hear my Argos stories and he got everything from my first rainy day in the town to the celebration the night we won the referendum for joining the region into the Union.  
- So Cheiron actually married! Zeus sounded almost surprised. During the days in the Order he always seemed like the bachelor surpreme. Running after girls, but leaving his heart back home in the cupboard while doing it.

- I know. He was very... special in that way. We even tried once. But then I guess he, like everyone else, found out that he wanted children. I guess Khariklo made him change his mind in a way. And now he just keeps talking about becoming a father everytime we're in contact.

- That's part of the great mystery that's life, Zeus said and seemed lost in thoughts for a while. Don't you want children, Hera? he asked.  
- Later, I said. It's not the time for children in my life now. I want to do the Hyp. For several more decades at least. Maybe a century. I haven't even started to do what I really want to do in politics. Then... I'll se what's bound to happen. And if there's someone who wants to give them to me. To share them with me.

Zeus started to say something but changed his mind, and the glimpse of thoughts I caught was too small for me to see what he was aiming at. Instead he asked me to clarify a few things of my Argos story. He was especially interested in the political intriguing I had been involved in at the island of Ithaca. And they were complicated, involving everything from "surpricelings" like Thetis' mother Raoria who wrought the power out of the hands of the deity Qaiar and mortal politicians being held hostage inside an Agora building.

- It was actually Raoria who inspired me to go after Erebus the way I did. But when Qaiar was only almost healthily hungering for power and generally anti-union, there was something twisted with Erebus. The way he tried to kill Argus for instance. Zeus, why does a man, a god, behave like that?

- Because he was un-loved. Because he had no-one caring for him, holding him, loving him. Probably he took some mortal woman sometimes, for sex, but that's not the same thing. That's only butter when you need a sandwich. He should have had someone for him. A woman.  
- He courted me once. Wanted me to be his. But I turned him down.  
- No-one can blame you for doing that. You were probably not the only one too.

In the silence after these words I heard the clear ding-dong sound of a clock telling the time. And once again I realised that I had let time fly talking with Zeus.  
- Eagle, I really must be going home. There's work to do, and even if that sofa was comfortable I need to be in my own bed tonight.  
- You're right, I'm neglecting my duties too. But this was also a necessary thing. I feel I know you much better now than ever before. I understand your reasoning, I know why you felt you have to leave New Pantheon that day and the yearning to create something that was yours alone.

- Yes, but I couldn't have done it without my dear friends Cheiron, Neyta and all the rest. And that was something I never would have understood if I hadn't left. That you need friends, that you need helpers.  
- I hope I can be one of these again, Hera.  
- Certainly. Since I'll do the same for you. Just ask!

- One more thing, Peacock, he said. Stop living your life in circles!  
- What do you mean?  
- When this Neario named Kandrios is gone from your life, are you going to run away again?

First I didn't understand what he was getting at, but then it hit me:  
- Zeus, I'm not madly in love with Kandrios. Not like it was between me and Neario. Kandrios and I are lovers. We do things together, have sex, take comfort in each others strength and presence. But it's nothing more than that. You should know about shallow affairs, Eagle, if anyone. What Neario and I had was different. That's something that won't happen to me again.  
- It won't?  
- No. Such things only happen once, if ever. And I'm glad I had it happen to me even if I lost it. I don't feel like talking about it though, even if it doesn't hurt as much as it used to.

- I understand perfectly. I just want to point out that there are... well, opportunities out there. Love don't have to be shallow.  
- Maybe I'm content content with having it shallow at the moment. But thanks for your concern.  
- You're welcome.

We hugged. For real and long. A hug of confirmed friendship. Whatever had been wrong between us was gone. I was so happy when I left Olympos. I had got my friend back. My 'Brother.

o-o-o

The evening was glorious. The wind from the sea was warm, carrying with it a promise of the seasons to come. I decided to walk home instead, to make my soul catch up. I landed at the inhabited down-sloaps of the Olympos. A mortal washing his car dropped his jaw seeing me and I smiled at him, almost flirtatious. Then I started to walk my way home through those little streets, taking in the sights of the mortals homes. Pretty villas, white most of them with colourful doors and blinds, sloped, bricked roofs and well-manicured gardens. Birds chirping everywhere. Playing kids, smell of grilled meat.

One or two early cherry trees had already started to bloom and I could imagine the sight when all the rest followed suit. The whole mountain-slope would be pink and white. No wonder this area was called Cherry Hills.

Kandrios was waiting for me when I came home and he looked upset over something.  
- Where've you been Hera? I've been mindcalling, looking all over for you.  
- I'm sorry, Kan. I was with friends and...

- None of these I talked with at least. Neither Freya nor Amaterasu had any idea where you were. Not even Neyta.  
- I was at the Olympos.  
- The Olympos! So Eris of Earaxxes was right then!  
- What has she to got do...  
- She said you left with Zeus yesterday after the Open Forum, and that you two were very cosy. I thought it was just one of her usual ways of causing trouble and disagreement between people. Kandrios crossed his arms against his chest looking at me with maddened hazel eyes.

- So this is it then, he went on.  
- This is what? Kan, it's not the way you think.  
- So in what way is it then? Don't tell me you visited Hestia or Leto because they both were downtown today, checking out the parade.

- Kandrios, I have told you this before. About Zeus's and my friendship which we ruined all those years ago. And we sorta started over today. Cleared the air if you know what I mean.  
- I hope I do. Kandrios started to leave.  
- Please, don't go. Kan, I need you!  
- You can't have the cake and eat it too.

- Kan, if you still don't see reason I feel sorry for you. I am happy to have regained a friend who had been lost for me so many years. And if you can't be happy with me for such a thing...  
- But he's...  
- He's like Neyta to me. An old friend I have been through a lot of things together with and have a lot in common with. Neyta and I talk about everything, we do things together and help each other and you have never questioned that. Are you questioning this because Zeus is a man? Well, how about Argus then? And Zephyros and Ra?

- It's... Hera, you're right. I'm sorry. I was just... He took me in his arms. It's just this bitch Eris. The way she described it...  
- ...was just one of her usual trouble making schemes. Don't fall for them, beloved! You know better than that.  
- I guess I do. Forgive me honey.


	26. A goddess and her followers

**A goddess and her followers**

I was looking at myself in the reflection of the mirror in front of the make-up table, trying to think of what to do. Ever since that night and day at Olympos when I had regained Zeus as a friend, the relation with Kandrios had been strained.  
- But we pretend it isn't. Isn't that weird, Hera? I asked the woman in the mirror. She looked back at me with questioning dark-brown eyes beneath purple, indigo and turquoise ringlets of hair, endings dipped in shiny silver.

- Of course you can't answer! Just look at you, Hera of Argos! All expensive dresses and latest fashion hairdo, member of the Hyperpantheon and head of the New Dawn party, and you can't pull your love life together. Are you going to do this the whole life? Pretend you are content with some shallow sex and holding-hands?

- You know what you have, the woman in the mirror said dryly, while putting on dangling earrings of electrum and gold, with droplets of lapis-lazuli. But not what you can get.  
- Yeah, Kandrios of Elesios, the prince of every goddess' dreams, I scorned and picked up a matching lapis necklace from a tiny ivory box.

- He's smart, he's talented, he's handsome, he's nice…  
- Nice! Yeah, that's what I've been looking for. Someone who's _nice_! Well, how lucky I am having hunted down a nice man.  
- So what do you want then? A brute? An Erebus?  
- But there's got to be more to love than this!

- Hera, get real! What do you expect? You have everything you dreamed of when you came to Ekarantanni. Power. Respect. Money. Good friends. Mortal followers. A reputation. Even a great place to live!  
- And a lover who doesn't trust me.  
- And why is that?  
- I don't know.  
- Yes you do, Hera!

- So tell me, mrs knows-it-all.  
- Because you're not appreciating him and he feels that. You behave like a spoiled little girl who has grown tired of her toy, and that's what Kandrios feels. He deserves better from you.  
- Oh, Chaos, shut up, will you!  
- For the moment, yes, because you have more important things to think about. Meeting mortals in the temple today for instance. But I'm going to start nagging you again, be very sure of that!

o-o-o

There was nothing special with my main temple back then, it was a middle-sized sanctuary located at Themyscira Street, half a block away from the main Acropolis area. Most of the main temples are located in Carandoris, the central part of Ekarantanni, on and around three Acropolis areas (more or less artificial hills all of them). Mine was one of those model A1 temples with rows of marble pillars surrounding a square building with a sloping roof, a clean-cut, fenced-in garden with roses, a fountain for cleaning and some statues of me and of dancing youngsters.

A lot of my mortal visitors were childless couples who had tried and tried but without being blessed with the fruit of love. I usually scanned them, saw what was wrong and helped them with that, either by healing them or giving them advices on how to get around the problem. On some rare occasions there was nothing to do, and those couples I advised to adopt instead.

In these cases I usually put the couple together with one of those young girls who had come to me because she was pregnant, and it was the wrong moment in her life. I hated abortions, in my eyes it was nothing but murder, and so far I had managed to avoid it with all means. Either by having these youths giving up their children for adoption or by opening their eyes to a new path in life – and, in many cases – helping them getting an absent father of the child back.

The third – and by far largest group were youths with career dreams, usually in the political area. Not necessarily as delegates, but with campaigning, media, lobbying or spin-doctoring. Most of these people were idealists with burning eyes who wanted to realise this or that dream and were so young that they still saw everything in black and white and thought they could change the world. In a way they were very similar to young immortals like Maia and Aoakis in the New Dawn office. And they were as interesting to talk to and listen to, young minds, still not cynical.

Sometimes it made me wonder whom I had been at the same age, and then I remembered. The warrior who lived from day to day, busy killing Titans and staying alive. My utopia had been peace. Now, when we had peace, there suddenly were so many more things to change in the world. Everything from eradicating poverty and crime to tearing down the terrible glass pyramid that roofed the Hall of Commerce at Zeus Avenue.

Mortals in groups generally made me feel drained and over-tired, especially if there had been a lot of healing involved. So when the day was over and the temple closed, I usually sat down for a while, letting the arch priestess light incenses with calming and energizing flagrances, take off my sandals and massage my feet with a mixture of olive-oil and lavender extract.

My Arch Priestess' name was Sarinavi, she was a lovely 29 years old who had followed me here from Argos, where she had bowed down and swore me her faith 13 years ago. Not long in divine, or even mortal standards, but I was still regarded as a young goddess, and so were most of my faithfuls. Hera, goddess of child-birth and infants – and young ambitious politicians, quite a peculiar combination, just as the times we were living in.

- Great goddess, Sarinavi said while drying my feet with a warm, soft towel. There is a problem.  
- What kind?  
- One of the novices, Ranadi, she's… She has been taken away from us.  
- By whom? I suddenly realised I hadn't seen the 17-year-old today, neither felt her presence. But I had been too busy to wonder about it.

- Her dad. He didn't appreciate of her taking this path in life, serving you, living in a temple-ward. He wanted her to have a career, becoming something fancy, like a lawyer or a doctor. He's been sneaking around the temple for almost a fortnight. First he started out fair enough, asking Ranadi to reconsider, talking about all the education he and her mother had paid for. But when Ranadi didn't want to leave in spite, he started to threat her, to behave really out of control. The day before yesterday Yarnopher and Xeragite had to throw him out, because he disturbed the peace, and was even starting with sacrileges against you.

Yarnopher and Xeragite were two of my three priests, and I understood that they had been needed, I remembered Ranadi's father as a big and heavy man who had looked strong in spite of the extra kilos he had been carrying.  
- Why wasn't I informed?  
- We tried to solve it without bothering you, Sarinavi said. Aygvi went there today, tried to talk to Ranadi's father. She arrived here a bit more than an hour ago. She has been… beaten up.

- By Ranadi's father? My shoulders tensed so hard that I startled Inafi, the novice who had been massaging my neck. She involuntarily lashed out with her leg and managed to kick my chalice of wine over. It fell to the floor with a clanking sound and the red liquid ran out on the white marble. Inafi rose, radiating with fear.  
- Oh… I'm sorry, great goddess.

I rose too, laying a hand upon the shoulder of the young girl. Inafi was 15, insecure and shy, coming from a shattered family, and she had been both proud and nervous today, when she got the chance to massage my neck. And now she feared that she had screwed up, feared divine punishment, tears welling up in round, brown eyes.

- Anafi, it's OK, I told her. I'm not the slightest mad at you, I loved your massage, you have sweet, soft hands and clean, clipped-down nails…  
- Sarinavi told me to, Anafi said, looking at her sandals.  
- I'm more upset with Ranadi's father. Now, where is poor Aygvi?

- She's in her room in the ward. Caralelli is with her, Sarinavi told, her jade eyes looking sad.  
- Take me to her! After healing her I am personally going to se to it that Ranadi gets back where she belongs.  
- I'm sorry if you feel dishonoured, Great Hera… Sarinavi started, but I cut her off:  
- It's not I who have been insulted here, it's Ranadi, a young girl who was refused to live the life she had chosen. Anafi, you can prepare hot soup, preferely lemongrass. And bring dark bread and cheese too! When I'm done healing Aygvi we both are going to be hungry.

o-o-o

- So I healed this young girl, I told Zeus. She looked terrible indeed, black eye and broken lip, bruises all over her. Next thing I went home to where Ranadi lives in Sarisana. It turned out that her father had locked her up in an almost closet-like room, refusing to let her out until she sworn that she would never get back in my service. Then he would have had her sent off to a college in Verangana, a place which holds no worshippers of mine.

- But you got her back? Zeus asked. He was sitting opposite of me in a sofa in his stately Nexus office, having thrown off his formal Divine King togas and was dressed in a purplish red tunic with a golden eagle on the chest. His bare feet were tucked in under him, and he looked light-years from the awesome ruler of the Union. He reminded more of the Zeus I had known back in the Union Foundation days, before I left for Argos.

- It wasn't a simple thing, you know how it is. A deity has to carry her- or himself as… Well, you can't show that you have been humiliated, because then you have to punish the erring mortal and I've never been good at these things.  
- I wouldn't have hesitated a second, I'd gone in to that apartment and swept the girl away before her fatto of a father would have known what had happened. Then I guess I'd scorsed him or something.

- Yeah, I know you had. No one questions you anyhow. You get respect whatever happens. But I have to keep my dignity. Can't be the Hera who gets insulted and lashes out in rage. Can't even be the Hera who gets insulted.  
- So what did you do?  
- I had to convince this ape-man that he was hurting his child and in the end himself. That I had come for her sake, not for mine, that all this was not about insulting a minor goddess by refusing Ranadi to lead the life she had chosen.

- You're not a minor goddess, Hera.  
- Yes I am. With a main temple outside the Acropolis, and not really much more. I am minor. I'm n:o 1 in Argos. But here I'm no-one.  
- It'll change. Trust me. When people see your values you'll get the respect and worship you deserve.  
- But until then I can't afford to show that I've been insulted. That I still carry my head high with honor.

- So what happened? Zeus was really interested. That's what I like about him. He doesn't listen with half an ear like so many other people. He pays attention to a conversation going on, or he cuts it off or leaves. And he was interested in my dealings with my mortal followers, even if he, as a Divine King, was probably having more important things to do.  
- I talked the man out of sending his daughter away, had him open the door to Ranadi instead of kicking it open myself, and then I took the girl home to her room in the ward. She was crying with joy over seeing me coming for her, and that I – in spite of everything – hadn't hurt her father.

- So you didn't punish him in any way?  
- No, the contempt and sadness in the eyes of his daughter when looking at him the last time was punish enough, I reckoned. And tonight she sleeps with her sisters and brothers in faith. In her home. Tonight they are all safe those "children" of mine. But next time…

- There probably won't be a next time, Hera.  
- You think so?  
- Yes. You have shown that you can take care of your own and that you can do it with dignity and pride, not loosing your head or manner. This is going to spread. People will know that Hera is trustworthy and taking care of hers. That's a problem I sometimes face by the way.

- How?  
- I have so many worshipers these days. So many followers and believers and priests and monks and novices of all kinds. And if any of them gets in trouble I seldom have the chance to intervene personally the way you did yesterday. I have to rely on my reputation and that people believe that I can protect all of mine.  
- Or that your people can protect each other the way Aygvi was trying to help Ranadi.

We got interrupted by a knock on the door, and then Hestia entered.  
- Hello, pals! What are you gossiping about this time?  
- Our mortal followers, Zeus said. And it's more like discussing. Nothing juicy.  
- Oh, well. I'm glad my best friends are talking to each other again. Are you ready to go yet?

As soon as Hestia entered I realised that I was posed the same way as Zeus, sitting on my feet and cheek resting in my hand, arm on the back of the sofa. Neyta had told me once that people tend to copy each other's body language unintentionally when they are agreeing. That was something I had learned to keep an eye on during political meetings.  
- I'm waiting for Demeter, Zeus told. I need her files on health hazards caused by car exhaustions and she's still meeting with those "Save the dragons" people.

Hestia sighed.  
- As much as I agree on the importance of saving an endangered specie I can't see any reasonable way of keeping the dragons alive. They are after all threatening the mortal societies, and even though there aren't that many dragons left they do cause causalities. About 100 mortals killed by dragons every year, that's a bit too much for people to digest.  
- Traffic kills hundredfolds more, Zeus stated.

- That's no comfort for people who lose their beloved ones to fire-breathing, overgrown lizards, Hestia answered. It might be true that dragons are more afraid of people than people are of dragons, and that they only attack when they or their offspring are under threat, but you can say that a thousand times to illiterate, outback mortals with guns in their hands. They still won't listen. They're still going to shoot dragons upon sight.

- How about collecting all the dragons and relocating them to somewhere safe? I suggested. An island in the middle of the Endless Ocean. Too distant for them to swim or fly off.  
- That has been considered, Zeus told. The problem is that there is so much that has to be taken in mind with such a solution. First you have to find a large enough island for the dragons to keep up their number without inbreeding, then you have to see to it that they get food. Then… well, one mortal delegate even suggested that we should turn this dragon island into some kind of zoo or amusement park! With real life safaris! I mean – really!

Demeter arrived and Zeus got his files and some briefing before Demeter went home to Olympos. She hadn't wanted to follow Zeus, Hestia and me out for dinner, and I actually breathed with relief upon her decline. The cold stare she had given me had sent shivers down my spine, and yet another time I wondered why she was so clearly hostile to me.


	27. Downtown with Zeus

_First of all, thanks to all my reviewers, you rock, without you I wouldn't have kept this up!_

**Downtown with Zeus**

- Look at these people! Hestia was saying. Give me the creeps! Hestia had suggested a little restaurant in the part of Ekarantanni known as Andomigor, and since it was a nice afternoon we had flown to the outskirts of Andomigor and then turned incognito and walked a bit. Now we were at a square a few blocks from our destination, and in the middle of the square a manifestation was starting to take place. People with boards and banners, speech-enhancers, firebrands and whistles were congregating, chanting slogans aimed at everyone and no-one in the surroundings.

- The Centralists, yeah, they're spooky, I answered. Such fundamentalists, such hatred-filled people! What is their problem really? Northerners taking their jobs? Nomadic people carrying deceases? Southerners sacrificing children for faiths sake! If these people weren't so incredible serious one would think this a whole big sick joke.

- It isn't any joke, Hestia shook her head, orange and yellow braids flying like wild fire. The Centralists are dead serious. They want to send Northerners back North. They want to forbid the Southerners to worship their gods –as if deities like Sorawe and Akaraia haven't confirmed enough times that they are not accepting human sacrifices. Just asking them such a thing is nothing but outrageous and preposterous. And on top of everything – some Centralists are actually suggesting that nomadic people should be sterilized if not outright killed! I can't believe we are letting these people continue with their hate propaganda.

- In the name of freedom of speech we have to, I said.  
- Hera, some things ought to be forbidden to say or do even in a democracy.  
- There are. Like promoting criminal acts and illegal threats. But I guess the price we have to pay for an extended freedom of speech is abominations like the Centralists. As much as I hate what they are saying they must be let to say what they want on the streets of the city just like any other group. Or they will go underground where we can't control them, turn themselves into martyrs.

- Think about what the Titans did to us, Hera! The Centralists are proposing the same kind of action against the nomads. They ought to be stopped!  
- But we can't! They have the legal right to say what they want.  
- There's a way around that, Zeus said. He had been quiet during mine and Hestia's somewhat exalted exchange of words. Now he took us under the arms and guided us in under a portico to a small theatre building. As soon as we were in beneath the pillars the rumbling of thunder could be heard from the sky. The next moment the sun disappeared behind the fluffy edge of a dark cloud and a wind rushed over the square, rustled through the leaves in the large elms and whipped up trash on the ground.

I looked up in the sky. It was filled with grey-blue clouds I could have sworn hadn't been there a minute ago. The rain started the next second. It was a fierce rain, out of place for the season. Even stranger was the hailstorm that followed the rain. Big, white marbles of ice mingled with the heavy rain, interrupting the Centralist manifestation completely, having them running for cover, dropping their boards and banners, or turning them into makeshift umbrellas. The speech and chanting were drowned by the thunder and the rain and the spectators in the square all disappeared in a whiff.

- Zeus! Hestia was saying, that's cheating! She tried to sound lecturing but she was radiating with smile. Zeus smiled back and I couldn't help smiling too, looking at all the water flowing down the now empty square, too much for the gutters to swallow.  
- But it worked, Zeus answered. Then he turned serious.  
- Sometimes cheating is necessary, he went on. A manifestation like that might sound harmless, even laughable, as Hera stated. But these Centralists aren't only a bit of a pain in the guts for a democracy like the Union. Earlier these Centralist meetings have been running out of control, and ended up in fights or riots. And I sure don't want that to happen. Not here in Ekarantanni or anywhere else for that matters.

- But Zeus, a hailstorm… I started, not sure of how to go on.  
- That's a cheap price to pay if it prevented a riot. Now, my ladies, let's eat. Bad weather makes one long for a hot steak.  
- Especially if the weather is your making, Hestia commented.

That little restaurant was pleasant and cozy and excelled in the simple but delicious Thessalian kitchen which with its well-spiced meat and generous and fresh salads had won my heart. Even if we were incognito and looked just like any mortal threesome we got excellent service. And the sudden outburst of bad weather was the talk of the eve.

- You know, our waiter said, I heard that it was a Centralist demonstration starting off in the Alilari square, but that it got interrupted by this weird storm. I mean a hailstorm in Springmonth! Unheard off! These people and their terrible ideas must have angered the gods.  
- You think so? Zeus said with an innocent look upon his face.  
- I'm certain, the balding man said. They should get lucky they only got wet, and not hit by the lightning. I've seen proof of the wrath of the gods earlier. Not a pretty sight I can assure you, my friends.  
- Oh, really Hestia replied, looking even more innocent. Now, let's have some more of that excellent wine. That is something to please gods with instead.

o-o-o

As usual with Zeus and his Olympians the evening got late. Zeus didn't crave much sleep, and his late habits had spread to his closest friends. But in spite of being tired I couldn't sleep. I was thinking back on today's events, especially that one with the hailstorm.

It wasn't just about controlling the weather. It wasn't just about using his divine powers to stop something that bothered him. It was about… Well, it was about – being Zeus. Zeus could do such a thing, Zeus could get away with such a thing. Only Zeus could use divine powers like this, to bend the rules of what was really suitable for a divine politician to do.

All right, this time there had only been Hestia and me around to see Zeus "cheat" as Hestia had labelled it, and we had found it clever, even charming. But it was far from the only time Zeus had done things like that. Stepped over the line in a way no other deity could even think of doing. If someone else had rained on a manifestation he or she didn't like, it would have caused a real problem. The action would have been questioned in the name of democracy, even if it might've been about interrupting an anti-democratic group like the Centralists. And the god or goddess in matter would have lost a whole lot of cred. But not Zeus. Zeus played by his own rules. Now, why was that?

It wasn't only about him being the Divine King. It had as much to do with the mans charisma, with his way of convincing people that he was right and just and played by the rules even while stretching them. The times he actually _had_ become questioned he had always been having good answers. Answers that worked even in print, when his famous charm was not around to smooth things.

But was it really impossible for someone else to try such a stunt once or twice? I had wanted to do… things, sometimes. Small tricks, hardly more than pranks to acquire bonuses in the political games. Divine etiquette had held me back most of the time, but I decided to be more daring. Zeus's natural way of pushing the limits for his own benefit was inspiring. I refused being stuck in the rules of etiquette all my life. I wanted to do… more!

o-o-o

The next day I had to deal with the fact that New Dawn had been let down by the Libertarians in an important voting. We had made this deal to support each other in two different questions, one "theirs" in exchange for one "ours". First we helped them with our votes. And then they went screwing us, by having one voter absent.  
- Now what the Chaos what that about? I asked the libertarian head Mnemosyne. What happened to our deal?  
- Nothing, Mnemosyne answered calmly.

- But you failed us. Let us down. With one vote!  
- One of ours was absent. Now, I'm just a party head, not a sheep dog. I can't keep hauling in everyone of mine every day.  
- But you could have done it when it was needed. You could have stayed true to your promise, Mnemosyne.

- We would have. Now Akita was not around and there was nothing I could possibly have done about that. I'm sorry, Hera.  
- You're sorry! Is that all you're going to say? Have you any idea how important this stopping of the gene-manipulation-research-ban was to us? Have you any idea about how much energy and time me and my party comrades have invested in it? Now we in the Union are going to suffer a ban on legal research, while clandestine research can go on in illegal laboratories, because the authorities don't have time to deal with it.

- Spare me your speeches, Hera!  
- I'm going to spare you these. As well as I'm going to spare you from further deals like this. You got your free speed on highways, I guess you're happy with that. But I guess you're going to be less happy when you and your party get cut out of further deals like this in the future.

- Are you threatening me?  
- I didn't know you were found of clichés. No, this is no threat. Just a state of fact. You failed us. Don't you think that's going to get known? Already today we were approached by the Sun Guild who don't want to strike a deal with you about electric high-wires, in spite of having discussed that with you earlier. So good luck on your own in the future, Mnemosyne!

o-o-o

Then Kandrios was back in town after a lengthy visit to his brother in Elgarandia. As usual after these visits he was moody and low, and I noticed that I didn't tell him about my dinner with Hestia and Zeus. Nor did I tell him about Zeus's and my visit to the play "Sparkle with me". Kandrios wasn't found of theatre, but in spite of that I didn't think he would appreciate the thought of me going to a play with Zeus.

- I've been with my mortals, I told instead.  
- More clogged ovaries?  
- Yeah. But I must do this as well. It feels important to help these people. And I need the followers.  
- For what? Cred?  
- Yes. In a way. And New Dawn votes. I'm the face of New Dawn. I'm the Peacock Lady. I'm the one mortals think of when they think of immortal New Dawn. And then they vote for my mortal New Dawners as well.

- I get your point. I see how proud your people are of you. Both mortals and immortals. Freya and Boreas and all those. Bet your temple is going to be relocated to Acropolis any month if you keep that spirit up.  
- Thanks my love.  
- You're welcome. But can I just offer you one advice?  
- What?  
- Don't climb the Olympos! I know you have some friends up there, but don't try to stand on the shoulders of them. It'll be a big fall should they get into their mind of pushing you off.

- Like Pelaithas.  
- Yes. Rumour has it that he's still falling. His Hyperpantheon seat appears to be in danger.  
- But he messed with Zeus's children. I'm not planning to do such a crazy thing.  
- You never know when you anger them. The Olympians are unpredictable and when they decided they have had it with someone, that poor person seldom knows what hit him or her. Of course Great Zeus is reliable, and I would trust him with anything or anyone, except for a teenage daughter if I had one. But don't try to play games with them anyway.

- I'm not…  
- Heralove, it's only a warning. Do have fun together with the Olympians if it amuses you, just remember that you're playing with fire and there's not always possible for someone to be around to put it out for you. And – at the same time – remember that you have real, reliable friends down here. Like Freya, Neyta, Ra, Xurasa… Me.  
- Yes. I have you! I love you Kandrios.

One more sleepless night. This time I was thinking about Kandrios' words while he slept beside me relaxed like an infant. Was he right about me endangering myself with my too-tight relation with the Olympians? Were they real friends that counted and would be there for me if I got in trouble? Or were they, as Kandrios had called them, unpredictable and unreliable? Or was it all about Kandrios who seemed jealous when it came to my Olympian friends? He never wanted to meet them, he never wanted to come with me to Olympos when I went there. Was he cautious or simply envious.

Anyhow – our relation remained strained, and I wondered if it would get better if we took a break during the coming months when the Nexus was out of session. We would have to discuss it, Kandrios and I. We couldn't go on this way, that much was for sure!

o-o-o

At the end of the 16:th session I learned that Iapetus was resigning from the Chair Lord's office. A scandal involving some nymphs had in the end turned it unbearable for him to go on. According to Neyta he was taking a time out and moving to his mother's pantheon in Anatolia to get away from all the fuzz.

With Iapetus resigning I could see another opportunity for Hera of Argos. I knew that I in many ways was still considered a rookie, on the other hand I did have a large platform of allies. Especially among the other newcomers, but also with older members who were considering me and the New Dawn party as a breeze of fresh air. I must admit that I had managed to stir quite a few things in the Nexus already during my first year here. And I was leader of the largest party group in the Hyperpantheon.

So why not? I could at least talk to some of my most trustworthy allies about my plans. I mindcalled my New Dawners Freya, Neyta, Ra and Phoenix.


	28. The campaign

**The campaign **

- Are you out of your... Hera! Freya was almost laughing. The Chair Lordship of the Hyp is usually assigned to someone who has been around for years and years and is...  
- Usually? returned Ra. There's no such thing as "usually" here, sweetheart. Iapetus might have been in from the start when he was elected six years ago, but his precursor, Chrysaor - he certainly had no experience when he got the sceptre. In that sense Hera's better fit than he.

- You can't compare Hera's candidacy to the Chair Lord who was the first one out, Freya insisted. There was no "before" when Chrysaor was elected. And he was more or less put there by the Olympos anyway. And - when Iapetus decided to run against him he lost. Big time.

- I believe Hera should run anyway, said Ra.  
- I don't said Freya. It's too early in her career. She'd better wait and try to consolidate her status in the Hyp. In another 20 - 30 years the position might be open again, and then she'll be better prepared to take over. Today she's still considered a newcomer. Especially with people like Xenon and Paladin who has been in from the very start. Sorry, Hera, but that's true.  
- Don't be "sorry", I told my colleague. You are entitled to your opinion. And it's your true opinion I want. Not some "Aye" sayers'. I don't need those.

- It's not "Aye-saying" I'm doing. Ra sounded almost insulted. I really think Hera should run. What good will waiting do? Either she'll wait until a coming Lord resigns, and that might take decades. Or she waits until she thinks she has a stronger position and then she goes up against the sitting Lord. Neither alternative sounds better than going for it next year, me thinks.

- And Phoenix? I asked the pale Sarnite. What's you opinion?  
- I believe you should wait and see who'll be up against you. If there's someone you can beat. I mean, if Xenon runs, drop it! He's popular - the good guy. He'll get backing from the liberals and the libertarians. And from most of the conservatives too. Mnemosyne is also a hard ace to beat. And if she's running she'll probably get backing from the Olympos. She's popular with them. On the other hand you won't have anything to worry from people like Aestarion of Crete or Protheus of Egarnathon. None of them are really that popular outside their own party groups. And whoever running, they will not get the office without support from outside their own parties.

- That's the magic word, said Neyta. Party-group. The New Dawn is the largest party. Everyone would expect us to launch a candidate. And Hera is the obvious choice.  
- Nevertheless, insisted Freya, if we wait every candidate is going to come and try to get our support. We might be able to get some benefits by having them bid out each others for our votes...  
- And be considered unfair players, interrupted Ra.

The debate went on in the same tracks for a while until I made a decision for myself and then announced it:  
- This is what I'll do. I'm taking Phoenix' advice. In a way. I am running, if Xenon isn't. Because I agree on the Thessalia-Ekarantannite being almost impossible to beat. It would be New Dawn against the rest - well almost. I'll ask him tonight if he's in or not.

- And what about Paladin?  
- Him I can beat. He isn't that popular with the Olympos. And we can't forget them. They are entitled to one vote each, but that's only in theory. What they do might tilt the whole Nexus. Especially if they are unified. The mortals at least tend to follow a united Olympos almost blindly. And Neyta, you're the best one at these things: who's running in your opinion?  
- Aestarion definitely. Mnemosyne and Androdorus probably. Orion maybe.  
- Thanks. Do find out your contact peoples' opinions and give me them as soon as possible! When I have a general idea about whom I might be up against I might announce my candidacy.

o-o-o

- No, said Xenon. I'm not running. I had met the Thessalia-Ekarantannite delegate in his office in the Liberal Party's headquarters. He sat behind his desk, freckled hands folded and with a serious look on his slightly angular face. Behind him a large coat-of-arms with the well-known Liberal bear upon, window slightly ajar to a noisy street. I was sipping on my Nectar.  
- Why not?  
- I'll leave my province without representation. I'm the only god Thessalia-Ekarantanni's got save for the Olympians. If I run they'll have to kick one out to do Hyperpantheon for Thessalia-Ekarantanni instead. And they don't want that. Not with Leto already off.

- All right. I get your point. So who's running for the Liberals then?  
- Not decided yet. Eridanus or Androdorus. It's a tight internal run between them. The thing is no-one would probably be able to beat you.  
- And what makes you think I'm running?  
- Who else of your party? Don't tell me you're launching Boreas! He won't stand a chance. Honestly. He's too - well - too cold for most people.

- We're not sure if we're going to launch anyone.  
- Gimme a break, I'm not buying that one. Peacock's not running? That would seem way too strange with you being the largest party group.

That was it again. I had to run. I smalltalked a bit more with Xenon, some analyses of what next years session might bring and some exchange of gossip before going over to Kandrios two offices away, to try to drag him away for dinner.

o-o-o

- So here's what my informers said. Neyta sat down in front of me in my living room, accepting Nectar but declining ambrosia. Everyone thinks Eridanus's going to run for the Liberals and Aestarion for the Conservatives. And Sorawe or Orion for the Sun Guild. The Radicals are probably not launching any candidate, because they consider themselves too weak.  
- And the Libertarians? I filled two cups of Nectar, handing my friend one.  
- That's the weird thing, the most natural would be Mnemosyne running, but it looks like she isn't. Instead there has been talk about our defected comrade Notus.  
- Odd!

- Yeah. Waaaay odd. I think that the Libertarians are up to something tricky here. Maybe like backing out at the last moment and instead supporting someone else. Or having the rest of us bid for their votes. It smells foul anyway. But there's more to consider if you're running, Hera: One - the United Democrats, the mortal party. Try to find out whom they might support. They are not many, in mortal perspective that is. But since they have no immortal representatives they are probably able to affect the mortals in the candidate-less mortal/immortal parties like the Radicals and maybe the Libertarians. If the United Democrats stand united that is.

Two - and even more important: because of the recent political instability the opinion of the Olympos is going to be really important. Find out their standpoint! And if they are going to go united or not! A united Olympos will probably be impossible to go up against. It may hurt you for years if you do that and fail. Everyone's going to consider you too coocky, too reckless. On the other hand - and this is a huge risk - if you go up against an Olympic majority and win - you are going to get so much power only by accomplish such a thing that you might be able to do whatever you want with your position. It's a high risk game, Hera.  
- And I'm playing, I answered.

o-o-o

I was looking at the large oil painting while I was waiting for Areliouris Keedaes. What was it with those mortals never being on time? The painting pictured the battle between Zeus and Chronos, one of thousands I had seen with that theme during this year in Ekarantanni, each and everyone more or less accurate. This artist hadn't bothered with getting the Merioly backdrop even half-right and had skipped all of the spectators as well as the nuclear mushroom clouds that were so common in other representations. Instead she (most probably it was a she) seemed to be obsessed with the male body. Both Zeus and the late Titan were almost naked and their muscled bodies were painted in bright light and sharp display.

But what triggered my interest were the lines at the bottom of the painting:_ The Titan King against the God of Thunder. And one shall fall while the other one gathers the energies. And then the world will be forever changed._ The part of the old Prophecy which Neario had quoted to me that fatal day. Seeing it here in the Union Nexus the meaning seemed so obvious. Still I remembered Neario's doubt back then. And it all came back to me. The feeling of fragility and insecurity. How scared I had been. I shuddered in the bright, hot room.

Then I felt someone rushing up to me from behind. The moment after Areliouris Keedaes spoke over his breath:  
- Honourable Goddess, sorry for being late. Traffic you know. I didn't. I never used cars, but I only nodded at the mortal, accepting his apology.  
- I have asked to see you to discuss a standpoint of your party. Shall we go sit down in the taverna?

Back then I wasn't very good at small-talking with mortals outside my core-group of faithfuls. I never really knew what to say to them, so I went almost right down to business with the leader of the United Democrats.  
- I want to know whom your party might support for the next Chair Lord.  
- A democrat.  
- Pardon me?

- We want a democrat! Someone who listens to the majority. Instead of the mighty voice of Zeus. The honourable Iapetus, I hope I can say this to you, my Goddess, he has not been listening to our assembly. We have been voting only to find out something else being realised.

- Really? I had no clue...  
- Forgive me for saying this but a lot of our delegates have been feeling uncomfortable with the present situation. They have been left with an impression that the mortal assembly is just there for show. That everything is run from within the Hyperpantheon, or even from the top of the Olympos. And as much as I respect the noble and honorable Zeus this is not a good thing. Because this has resulted in many mortal delegates handing in their resignation over the years. Good delegates. The best in fact, because these delegates were the ones who were in the Nexus because they considered it a calling. While those staying have been those who are in it for the power.

- This is terrible! I met the vital, gray-green eyes in the lined face. Areliouris Keedaes might have lacked the aura of an immortal, but there was something else there instead. A soulfire that came from strong will and determination. This man had fought himself to this position, I realised. Outwitted maybe hundreds of his kind. He had been conquering higher obstacles than most immortals, won greater victories. And what he lacked in abilities he had gained through hard work. In a way he was like a Zeus compared to a Chronos. I found that I admired the mortal man. I went on:

- If what you describe is correct, then there has to be a change.  
- Are you promising such a change, my Goddess?

- I'm definitely going to work to make it happen. If I am to become Chair Lady then I would not run over the Mortal Assembly because Zeus wishes so. You will have my word on that.  
- Then you will have the votes of the United Democrats. Because of that promise and because of you being the only immortal bothering with asking us.

The United Democrats was the only party without an immortal branch. That was its very nature, a party for the mortals and by the mortals. Serving their interests. All the other parties: The New Dawn, The Conservatives, The Liberals, The Libertarians, The Sun Guild and The Radicals were two-legged.

o-o-o

The next day I found out that the Olympos was supporting Aestarion, the Cretan. That nearly had me backing out. Reaching the Chair Lordship without the Olympos was impossible, that was something I believed most of my colleagues would agree upon. Or was it really?

What made me announce my campaign one day later in spite of the Olympos was the honest eyes of a 65 year old mortal man. I had promised him to put a change to this misuse of Chair Lordship that Iapetus was being accused of. And I could not let the mortal down on that. Especially not since a shallow research soon told me that Areliouris Keedaes was right.

With those events the 16:th session was over, New Year was waiting a few days ahead and then there would be a three months break before the 17:th session was going to start by the end of Solstice Month. People were starting to leave Ekarantanni, to go home to their provinces, their pantheons and their faithfuls. And I suddenly found me with an almost aching yearn for the harsh landscape of the Garanarian highlands and the pastel-coloured buildings and steep streets of Argos. After nine eventful months in Capital City Hera was homesick!


	29. Another year begins

**Another year begins**

- Elli claims that the child she's expecting is Zeus's. And so does Amaterasu, who obviously has tired of Androdorus. She's trying to win Zeus back! Neyta said. So what I think we're going to see here over the nearest weeks is catfight supreme! Beside the political battle of course.

I laughed at my friend. We were back in Ekarantanni after the vacations, and it was like nothing had happened while we had been away. Like Ekarantanni had been frozen while I spent time with Cheiron and Khariklo and Maionia, their firstborn, in Argos. The law firm moving in on top of the New Dawn HQ was still performing noisy renovations of their offices and Zeus was still chasing girls. And there were still girls chasing Zeus too. And most of all: Neyta was still the Queen of Gossip.

But there were a few changes anyhow. A new province in, and that was neither Avalon (Zeus had been right about them voting "no") nor Lukandia (some delays in their negotiations prevented them from joining this year), it was the province south of Xaliricon joining: Antiocheia, which was sending an independent immortal delegate: Tyche. Pelaithas had also left his chair and the god taking over instead was a conservative named Termessos.  
- He actually became defeated. There was a vote in CONAU and it fell against Pelaithas. Rumours has it that Termessos got Olympic help.  
- Rumours might be correct on this, I answered. Hestia hated Pelaithas. He was not that popular with Zeus either, after attacking his daughter.

- Artemis?  
- Nope, little Athena.  
- Why on Earth...

I gave Neyta Hestia's story of Pelaithas hitting Athena and then getting thrown off the Olympos, well aware that this stuff would be common knowledge within a few hours.

Then there were some other names, not directly connected to the Nexus.  
- Nerthus? Neyta asked.  
- She's an observer from Midgård apparently.  
- I could have sworn, with that name, it was a bloke.

- Midgård. That's a large terratory. No big cities like Ekarantanni, Argos or Mychenae or even Thebes. But large population anyhow. Mortal assembly will be tilted North if they join, I speculated while looking through more names. The observer Merlin was still there, in spite of the Avalonite "no". And then there were two new observers: Deino and Aerilith, Eastern East-coasters both of them. Four more days to go before the Grand Opening of the Nexus and the election of a new Chair Lord.

o-o-o

Meeting Zeus again was also a joy, even though it felt a bit odd. We hadn't really talked since I announced that I was campaigning against the candidate favoured by the Olympos. Anyhow, Zeus didn't seem to mind.   
- I'd expected you to run. This will bring excitement into the campaign. And also putting the political questions and ideologies into the spotlight. You will be a hard one for Aestarion to crack, Peacock.  
- What makes you think he's going to crack me, Eagle?

- You are used to victories, Hera. But this time I believe you have joined a game where you can't win. Nevertheless I'm not telling you to back out. On the contrary. Aestarion needs a good fight. And he needs to polish up his ideology, which he has to do being up against both you, Eridanus of Akarnaiya and Notus of Xaliricon.  
- Why are you supporting him? The Olympos, I mean.  
- Because we want someone with both experience and a strong ideology as a Chair Lord. And with ambitions too, which we consider Aestarion having. Iapetus was hardworking and well seen. The problem was that he, by the end of his term, tended to be a bit too eager to please me.

- You've also noted the development in the mortal assembly? I asked.  
- So I have.  
- Do you think Aestarion will change that?

- I know he will. I have definitely told him that this was one of our conditions for Olympic support. Now, don't say you take the same standpoint, Hera! I know well the differences and similarities between the New Dawn peacocks and the Conservative lions. That's not the point here.  
- I'm not asking you to reconsider either, Zeus, because no matter what I say you will not. I only wanted to know your reasoning.

After that we left politics. I was well aware that I was on the opposite team here, and I had no intention to push that fact. Zeus seemed to be of the same opinion and we went on to other parts of our lives. I told about Khariklo and Cheiron's child, and my last visit to Selene including yet another unpleasant experience with Goladia. Then I asked about his family, was invited up to the Olympos and told him that I would be there as soon as this run was over in another tree days.

- It would both feel odd and look odd in other peoples eyes if I went up there now.  
- You're right. It's strange enough that I'm actually sitting here in the New Dawn HQ, Zeus said. I can't even begin to think of what Aestarion would say if he saw me now. He'd probably think I'm walking out of him.  
- Ha ha! What a face of his that'd be!  
- You're not going to have that pleasure, Peacock. Let me buy you dinner instead! Downtown, undercover.  
- I'd love to!

On the way out we ran into Neyta (my usual luck), and I had to corner her and order her not to tell anyone that Zeus had been here.  
- It's a private visit. Nothing political. Neyta held up her hands.  
- I won't say a word, I promise!  
- Thanks.

We ended up at the seafood place Lantern far out on one of the piers. Disguised as mortals we looked like just another 20-something couple and we both took advantage of that, ordering sloppy and fatty fried food, commenting on the other guests and laughing out loud together several times. We both felt that we were as far from the Nexus as you can come and still being inside Ekarantanni. Instead we were sitting around people with green hair and odd pets, pale poets in all black as well as colourfully dressed Kalistis and Nymphs in hardly any clothes at all. There were even a few body-painted Nerieds.

- Chaos, I love this town, I commented and indicated loosely at the freakshow. So diverse. After three months in Argos I realise I'm missing all this. Zeus, this is probably going to sound way out weird, but last year, when the session was over, I felt homesick for Argos and the highlands. And back there I felt homesick for Ekarantanni. I don't really know where I belong anymore... Shut up, Eagle, I know what you're going to say about a certain mountaintop, but that's not an option. Especially not when I become Chair Lady next week.

- You sound so certain, Hera.  
- Of course! If I'm not, who's going to be? Look at that hairdo by the way! How do they do that? What do you think people would say if I show up in the Nexus on Firstday in a blue-metallic hairdo with one million little silver bells attached?  
- They'd think Peacock gone nuts! And Aestarion'd walk all over you! But Apollon would probably call it Swelltastic. Another word out of the teenagers' vocabularies.  
- Tell Apollon I love that word and thinking of using it sometime.

Zeus looked at me with laughter in his eyes. Then he turned serious.  
- I know what you mean with home sickness. We find different places in the world we learn to like, because we connect memories to them. I can tell you this, Hera, wherever you're going to go, you'll always carry that little piece of Argos or Ekarantanni inside of you. Sometimes I find myself even missing old Crete. Not the tourist-infested party island it has become today, but the old island where I grew up. Before the Chronites came and the horrors started.

- Talking 'bout Crete, I started, there's something I've been wanting to ask you for a while.  
-Go ahead! said Zeus and nicked a fried octopus from my plate. He had already finished his own dish, cleaned the plate save for some radishes. He never ate those.   
- About you being the one the old Prophecy talked about. The one destined to kill Chronos. When did you learn that?

Zeus was silent for a while, sipping on his wine.  
- I was eleven, he started. Mum had been dead for a year, and Demeter and I were living with Amalthea. Amalthea's sister Adrastea thought it was time for me to learn the truth. She told about the signs in the sky the night I was born, three planets and the moon standing in line, the mating eagles my mother had seen when the birth-pains had just started and the earthquake that destroyed the old temple of Potnia, the ancient Cretan goddess who was now lost. Signs indicating a turning point and also new hope, the start of a new era.

- And that new hope should be you? How did they know?  
- I'm not sure. The knowledge about interpreting the signs of the future is mostly lost to us. The only thing I know is what Metis told me, that big changes can actually manifest themselves backwards in time as well as altering the future. Great changes tend to create a form of recoil, leaving marks for skilled people to interpret.   
- Eleven years. That must've been a hard responsibility to carry all those years.

- It sure was. First I didn't understand it really. Thought it was just cool. Some fairytale A'n'A – that's what DeeDee and I called our guardians – had made up. I used to joke about it, but Adrastea got mad at me so I stopped. Then I learned that it was far from sure that I really was the one or that I was going to win. Adrastea said it could be others, someone else who was the real "God of Thunder" of the prophecy and who might succeed in killing Chronos. But I should get a try at it at least. So I did, after all I wanted revenge upon mine and DeeDee's parents. And you know the rest, my friend.

I nodded. Then we ended up just talking lightly about this crazy world which went on in its hectic spin around us. But Lantern was not a "stay-long-in" - place, and soon we were on our way walking along the quay instead. Side by side, stopping for ice-cream and admiring some yachts and a vintage river-queen-boat along the way. The sun dived down behind the skyline, and the heat of the day disappeared and left room for a balmy evening instead. We walked the Constitution Avenue and Twin Star Boulevard up to the Triangular Park, where we shed our disguise in an abandoned corner and took of in the air. And when we split and Zeus flew home to his mountaintop I felt a strange pang of loneliness. Three more days to go.

o-o-o

Neyta had of course misunderstood the reason for Zeus visiting me the day before. In her eyes "private" meant something entirely different. Not as in merely "not-political", but:  
- Amaterasu might look harmless, Neyta stated, but i don't think it's a good idea to cross her plans.  
- I don't intend to, I said. I'm not the least interested in Zeus. Not in "that way". What I want is the Chair Lordship of the Hyperpantheon. And I do believe I have a fair chance of winning the election - with or without Zeus's content. Isn't that what "balance of power" is all about by the way.

- That "balance" is an illusion, said Phoenix. We all know that the Olympos controls it all.  
- Well, we see about that on Firstday next week, I replied. And tomorrow is the Grand Hearing of the candidates. I want all New Dawners there plus my independent supporter Menoetius of Akaia.

Two more days to go.

o-o-o

Eridanus started his foul play the next day after the Grand Hearing. I had walked off the podium with a certain feeling I had won the debate - at least had I managed to win over Aestarion with flying colours, after him being unable to give good answers to the questions I asked him, whereas I gave him real answers (not what I refer to as pseudo answers this time, otherwise a real talent of mine). Notus of Xaliricon (who had cut off all his braids and looked like a warrior) had come in second and Aestarion and Eridanus tied on third. Now was the time to put icing on that cake, I thought. I had to work on the mortal delegates.

But after stopping to talk with Areliouris Keedaes and two other mortals, I heard some strange commotion in the upper parts of the hall. Then someone called my name and I had to excuse myself and go up and see what the fuzz was about.

It was about Phoenix, and he was in trouble. Protheus of Egarnathon and another immortal I didn't recognise had grabbed him from behind and forced him down on his knees and my competitor Eridanus was standing over him, screaming something, which I couldn't hear over all the hubbub. I pushed myself through the crowd only to see Eridanus kick Phoenix in the side.  
- Chaos, Eridanus, stop that immediately! I shouted. What are you up to?

- Stay out of this, Hera! the Akarnaiyan snapped at me and kicked again.  
- No, I'm not! That's a New Dawn comrade and I demand you to let him go. He has done nothing to you. If you have anything to deal with the New Dawn about you come to me, and I'll see if you're brave enough when you don't have two guys holding on to the one you're attacking.  
- Forget it, Hera! This is not about New Dawn or anything remotely political. This is about Titans. We don't want Titans in the Union Nexus!

- He's no Titan, he's the delegate of Sarnaa. Now you let him go, This is the last warning Eridanus.  
- Hera, don't get yourself in trouble over me, moaned Phoenix. He was bleeding from his month.  
- Yes I am!

Then Eridanus kicked again and I attacked, went into overdrive, bringing out the old warrior princess. Backhand on Eridanus's cheek, kick in the ribs. Eridanus went down and I was over him, but before I could do more I felt a hand on my shoulder. Freya's voice:  
- Hera, don't make worse things worse! You'll only lose...

Eridanus was screaming at the same time:  
- Hera, you get off me! I can't believe you're defending a bloody Titan.  
- Eridanus, you're a shithead, beat him up, Hera! I could hear Eris somewhere behind me at the same time. Chaos, she could _smell_ fights that woman!

Then suddenly a flash of light and an explosion.  
- Enough! No more of this! Zeus was furious. I won't have immortals fighting like drunk bar goers in the Union Nexus! Hera! Eridanus, stand up!

I saw him standing behind Freya, electric energy dancing around his risen right fist, left hand pointing at us.  
- Now what is this all about?  
- We're getting rid of certain elements that do not belong in the Nexus, growled Eridanus.  
- Leave that man alone, I snapped. You have no right...

- That Titan, you mean, said Eridanus. We won't have Titans in the Nexus. He's out!  
- Why this energy now? He hasn't bothered you before, and he's been in the Hyperpantheon a year already, Zeus was saying. Is this the case that he's a New Dawner, and you want one vote less for your contender?

Eridanus started to say something but Zeus cut him off:  
- I support yet another candidate, but I also support a fair run, and that's not what I'm seeing here. Get off the Sarnite delegate, or I will have your candidacy terminated.  
- You can not do that, Eridanus answered. Not even you, Zeus!  
- Try me! The Divine King folded his arms against his chest and looked like those thunderclouds people assigned to him. Involuntarily the liberal took one step back. Zeus did not move an eyebrow, before speaking again.

- You're a disgrace, Eridanus of Akarnaiya. You are a disgrace to your party which talks about liberty and equality and a disgrace to your province. What you are displaying here is nothing but racism.  
- It's not racism, the Akarnaiyan answered back. The man's a Titan, everyone can see that. The very same kind who killed your parents and then your wife. Are we to have these in the Nexus I ask you yet another time. I ask you, Zeus, and everyone else in here. Eridanus turned his look around the gathered delegates. Both mortals and immortals were holding their breath with excitement. Next move was Zeus's.

- Phoenix of Sarnaa is not a Titan, said Zeus. He's a Homo Sapiens Immortal, just like you and I and 61 other people in here. His looks has no relevance. It's his background you should look into, Eridanus. Take a look at what happened to the grandmother of Phoenix of Sarnaa, before dropping your next accusation against an innocent delegate! Zeus turned to Phoenix who was standing up again, even paler than usual, and taking support from a row of seats.

- Phoenix, Zeus said. I guess it's no secret what happened to your grandmother. But if Eridanus have forgotten, maybe you should freshen up his memory a bit. Phoenix nodded. Then said nothing for about eight long seconds. _Please, please, Phoenix, talk to them!_ I mindcalled my comrade. Then the Sarnite spoke up.

- She was raped, he said. Barely audible. Then Phoenix seemed to gather strength. A Titan Chronite officer raped her. As a part of an experiment. She was a pure Homo Sapiens Immortal. Bound to be killed. But the Titans wanted to perform an experiment. See what kind of breed, if any, a union between a Titan Immortal and a Homo Sapiens Immortal would result in. To cut a long story short, Erugiea gave birth to my mother Eriellia and then Erugiea was killed. My mother inherited Erugiea's dark features and was saved by the East-East guerrilla later. She lived and fought with the guerrilla, but when she gave birth to a child with Titan colourings both she and the child became outcasts. The child was me. I'd have died if not some mortals took pity of us and hid us 'till the war was over.

In the silence after that summary of yet another terrible war story you could hear someone cry. And someone else, less moved whisper:  
- Doesn't change anything. Still a Titan bastard.

Phoenix spoke up again:  
- Eridanus's right. In a way. I'm no pure Homo Sapiens Immortal. I'm 1/4 Titan. But I'm here because I was saved and I want to do what I believe in, in the Nexus. I hold no love for those who raped and killed my grandmother and considered my mother an experiment. And I have no intent of passing on my bloodline, so I have made myself sterile. I hope you excuse me, but there are several faces I don't want to look at here right now.

By these words Phoenix left the Great Hall. I met Zeus's looks over the now dissolving crowd. _Thanks_ I mindspoke. _And sorry for starting a fight in the Great Hall._ Zeus came up to me and looked me in the eyes, saying:  
- It's OK for this time. But don't you ever do such a thing again, because then I'll have to have you expelled out of the Hyperpantheon, Hera of Argos._ And I don't really want to do that, Peacock_ he mindspoke further.  
- I keep that in mind, I mumbled head held low.

Later that night I received the message that Eridanus of Akarnaiya had dropped out of the race and that the liberal delegates were free to vote after their own preferences. Now there were only three contenders left: Notus of Xaliricon, Aestarion of Crete and Hera of Argos. One more day to go.


	30. Election Day

**Election Day **

- Hera, wait! Amaterasu came hasting through the air after me, diving like a falcon.  
- What now?  
- 'Bout Zeus-san. I don't want him. You can have him.

I started to laugh.  
- Who said I'd want him? For the millionth of times, Ami, we're just friends. But your baby? I indicated her little bulge, I thought it was Zeus's.  
- That's true I admit. We tried to patch it up after the last session was over. He took me among all those blooming cherry trees at the Olympic slopes. That's why my daughter will be named Sakura. Cherry Blossom.

- Romantic! Too bad you two couldn't make it work. You'd have my bless if it had. Two of my best friends together as a happy couple.  
- I want a man who's wholly mine. I don't want to share him, the Nipponese said. What is it really with Zeus and all women?

- Let's land! I sat down on the top of a skyscraper and Amaterasu sat down next to me. She had taken Freya's advice and was wearing less colours and patterns and she looked gorgeous.  
- You sound like this is going to be a bit to digest, Hera!

- Right! First we have Electra of Troy. She had a baby with Zeus some 13 years ago, and she can't get over him. She's claiming the child she's expecting is his. But according to people who can sense these things it's not true. Then there's Freya who wants him badly. But I don't think Zeus is that interested in her either. Same goes for Thetis of Ithaca, even if I believe she has given up on Zeus and is going after Aestarion of Crete instead.  
- If you can't get the original, go get a copy instead. We both laughed at Amaterasu's pun.

- Two other outsiders are Aethra of Raeiadia and Xenon's assistant Chalaira.  
- How about Maia in your office?  
- Chaos, Ami! She's only 15.  
- Looks more mature than that. Do check out the way she's staring at Zeus! Looks like her eyes are going to pop out.

- The libertarian leader Mnemosyne of West Arcadia is more in Zeus's taste, I went on, but I have a feeling that she is done and over with for him. And was already before you and I came here.  
- She's a bitch.  
- Aye to that. Then there's you.  
- Not interested as I said.  
- Fair enough. Then there's me. And I'm just his friend, and I want it to stay that way for all in the realms. Finally there's Dione of Cyprus. If I should make a unscientific guess, she's the next bed-comrade of the Lord of Olympos.

- How about Pearo? He cheated on me with her.  
- Had her and got over it.  
- Whew! Amaterasu sighed. It sounds so clear when you explain and so complicated and entangled when I hear Neyta. And tomorrow it starts all over again. Are you getting elected or not?  
- Faith'll tell. The race is tight. After Eridanus dropped out anything might happen, because he left a lot of delegates who don't know how they're going to vote. Whole mega Liberal Party!  
- And what does your Kandrios say about them?  
- He won't tell. It's hard politics now. Love affairs are not allowed to affect.

o-o-o

The Opening Ceremony started the way it had last year. Snippets of conversation going on around me:

- What are we going to do now without Eridanus, Mnemosyne?  
- Proceed as planned.

- Who's that god?  
- Termessos of CONAU. Taking over after Pelaithas.  
- Had no idea he had resigned.

- Check out the teenagers on the spectators balcony! See that blond guy and brunette girl in front row?  
- Yeah, they sort of stand out. Who are they?  
- Zeus's twins. Apollon and Artemis. Next year they're going to be 16 and of age. Two more votes for the Olympos.

I met the looks of Areliouris Keedaes on the mortal side. He was smiling slightly and rising one gray eyebrow. He had the 32 promised votes for me. Next to him was Auirey Leyorda, head of the mortal part of New Dawn. They were only 25, but they were faithfully mine. Mine were also 5 of the independents.

But there were 206 more mortal votes, and no-one knew how the largest party group, the 60 Liberals, were voting after the drop out of Eridanus. I felt the excitement in the air, anything could happen today. It wasn't even clear how the immortals were voting.

The resigning Chair Lord Iapetus entered with the Speaker Irala Aunoskeshera. Same gong ringing, Irala Aunoskeshera letting up her voice:  
- Honourable ladies and gentlemen of the Union Nexus, take your seats, the 17:th session of the Nexus is about to begin.

Zeus entering to the same buzz as last year, sitting down in his throne and taking in the total gathering. _Nervous, Peacock?_ he mindspoke me and I nodded slightly. Once again an inspiring speech by Zeus, followed by a boring, but not really that long from Iapetus. And last but not least Irala Aunoskeshera, almost like a cheerleader.

Then Zeus rose again:  
- My ladies and gentlemen of the Union Nexus, we have to deal with the first issue already today this year. Our honourable Chair Lord Iapetus is resigning, and the task awaiting us is to elect a Chair Lord according to the procedures stated in the 19:th amendment of the constitution.

The first round was a vote between all three candidates and the looser was out, and then there would be another to select the winner. I glanced at Notus of Xaliricon and at Aestarion of Crete. This was it!

And I lost!

When the first round was over I had gathered 82 votes while Notus had 96 and Aestarion had gathered a total of 135.  
- The Olympic factor, I could hear Ra mumbling by my side while I felt tears stinging in my eyes. I had at least believed that I would be able to beat Notus. But apparently I had overestimated my own attraction and underestimated the fact that a united Olympos, even if they had only 10 votes together could tilt the whole Nexus in their favours just by announcing their standpoint.

I felt sick, the room was swaying around me when Irala Aunoskeshera announced a break before the last vote. I rose and went out of the hall.  
- No, Freya, please, I want to be alone for a while.

I went out to the coutyard outside the Great Hall and sat down on a bench in the shadow of a great oak. I almost felt like a little girl again. Felt that urge to run away. But I swallowed my pride. I was 42 years old for Chaos' sake. And a 42 years old goddess who is the head of the largest party group in the Hyperpantheon doesn't run away because she's loosing an election. I had to think of a way to make the best out of the situation. I had run and I had lost, and I needed to sample my mistakes and learn from then, so I could do it better the next time. Because there had to be a next time. None of the guys were going to sit forever, and I intended to stay a good while in the Nexus.

I sat there for a moment and let the grief burn itself through my body, while I watched birds swim and drink in the reflecting pool, unbothered by the carp fishes in the same. Then I heard running steps behind me. Freya?

No, it was Electra.  
- Hera, you must come in! Way out weird things are happening in the Great Hall. (There was that expression again.)  
- What kind?  
- Come in and see for yourself! This is like - no one knows what's going to happen. Notus has bailed out.  
- Well that means that the Cretan won the race, doesn't it?

- No, that's what's being discussed now. Hera, you must come in now. You must show yourself. The game might be on again.  
- Holy Chaos and its daughters! I rose, dried my tears and turned to my friend:  
- How does my make-up look?  
- You look fab. OK, from close up one can see that you've been crying. A bit red eyed and that, but that's only natural. Come on now!

- ... procedure this is going to take. We are looking in the Union Constitution right now for guidance. Irala Aunoskeshera was standing by the platform talking to an auditorium that was everything but silent.  
- There's Hera! A mortal was pointing. Someone started to clap hands and more followed. I could see Auirey Leyorda and her mortal group of New Dawners standing up applauding, and the United Democrats were also rising. I felt energy surge back into my body again, kept my head held high while I walked back to my place.

- What's happening? was the first thing I asked.  
- Notus asked to speak, Ra said. He said that he was backing out because of personal reasons.  
- What can that have been about?  
- We don't know, Freya went on. What's being discussed now is if we're going to start anew with a vote between you and Aestarion. Aestarion has of course already declared himself winner, but Irala Aunoskeshera claims that there must be another vote, so the people who supported Notus could have a say if they want you, Hera, or Aestarion.  
- And what's Zeus's standpoint?

- He has not yet reached one, said Freya. He's discussing the constitution with several members of the Olympos.  
- But they all want Aestarion. What can they have to discuss?  
- They can't run over the mortals without a clear paragraph in the constitution stating that there is a sole winner in a walk-over situation like this. The mortals want another vote. Hear the way they are chanting now!

I listened and over the noise in the hall I could hear a group chanting my name. The New Dawners and some of the United Democrats. Others on the other hand had taken up calling out Aestarion's name, but they sounded fewer.

- I know! Ra suddenly was saying, making Xurasa almost flinch.  
- What? Freya giving the Aigyptian a weird look.  
- He's setting the Olympos up. Notus I mean. He wants them to show either that they are prepared to run over the mortal assembly or taking the risk of their candidate loosing. That's probably what they are out discussing, not the treassured Constitution. This might actually be interesting.

- You're right! I suddenly recalled Mnemosyne and Eris:  
_- What are we going to do now without Eridanus, Mnemosyne?  
- Proceed as planned. _

- This was the Libertarians' scheme already from the start, I went on. They were planning to screw the Olympos one way or another. They were probably planning to have Eridanus elected, since the Liberals and the Libertarians are not really that far from each other. Now, with him out, they are scheming to get me in, or at least try to make me threat Aestarion.  
- But their own candidate? Electra asked.  
- Was only a decoy, I said. Otherwise they would have launched Mnemosyne. Remember how weird we thought it was that they had Notus running instead of her. We should have seen something like this coming, I guess.

- It's not that strange we didn't, Neyta said. We had no intelligence at all on this. It must have been some inner circle Libertarian thing. People like Eris, Mnemosyne and Notus.  
- But why do they want to set the Olympos up? And why now? Freya was asking, toying with her necklace.  
- We don't know that yet, I said. But it must be found out.  
- Eris takes every chanse to make trouble, Xurasa mumbled to no-one in particular.

- Pardon me if I disturb your little party meeting? I turned. Kandrios was standing a few meters behind Scadé, brown eyes glittering.  
- Go ahead! I said, my party comrades parting to let him through.  
- I'm here to let you know that if there's going to be another vote, you'll get the Liberal votes, Hera.

I could think of nothing to say but thanks. Then we were interrupted by the return of the Olympos pantheon. Noteworthy was that Leto was with them instead of in the hall as the COSWAU delegate. Zeus took the platform, sceptre in hand and radiating with regal charisma. The noise died down almost immediately. One last chanting of my name could be heard from the New Dawn / United Democrats group among the mortals.

- My ladies and gentlemen of the Union Nexus, Zeus started, we have discussed the matter of the Union Constitution and we have also been consulting earlier co-writers like the ex-Chair Lord Chrysaor and my co-Union founders Atlas, Amon and Themis. There is no clear Constitutional advice in a case like this. But, the intention behind the Constitution is Democracy. The Constitution is about every one getting his and her fair chance of having a say in important matters. And about fair play. And what we have seen here today is not fair play. Democracy is being tinkered with. Being used to twist the very idea of this Union and its Nexus. That can not be let allowed to happen.

At these words I heard Ra swear under his breath.  
- There isn't going to be another vote, he was saying.  
- Hush, said Freya, he's not done yet.

-There are three solutions, Zeus was saying. One: Declare Aestarion winner and appoint him to the Chair Lordship. By those words the conservatives started cheering but Zeus cut them off with an angry gesture.  
- Two, he went on - Notus should not really be allowed to back out and the voting should proceed as planned. That would on the other hand generate the same result as solution one, and look more strange. Three: Take a new start, and let a vote being cast between Aestarion of Crete and Hera of Argos. We have found this solution being the best for the Nexus and the Union in the long term. Zeus handed over the platform to the Speaker. Irala Aunoskeshera took it over and the procedure started anew.

- This might change nothing, I heard Phoenix saying beside me. I hid my head in my hands, closing my eyes. It was almost too much. I felt like I would crack, when the excitement in the hall collided with my own internal energies.

The voting appeared to drag on for eons. Irala Aunoskeshera was standing behind the scales, seeming to stare down every delegate who came and put her or his weight in the bronze cup of desire. Then finally the Speaker rose and announced the outcome of this very last voting.

Aestarion of Crete - 150 votes.  
Hera of Argos - 162 votes.

I had won!

The rest was just formalia. Swearing the oath to serve the Nexus and the Union with all my wits, and never letting my personal desires come in the way of the best of the common. I looked Zeus deep in the eyes while reciting these words which I had learned by heart "just in case". Zeus knew he had been defeated. And he was less than pleased. I was glad he knew that I was not the one who'd been playing over the top powergames here.

He mindspoke me, when I took my new seat, next to him. _I know what happened. We, the Olympos, were set up by a certain grouping among the immortals. And you were but a pawn in the game. But now you have got what you want. Use it well!_ I met his look out of the corner of my eyes, replied:_ I think I have an idea who the schemers might have been. I'll let you know. Later. _

Naturally the banquet that night became very different from the one last year. Not unexpectedly was I the centre of attention and I got everything from hugs and congratulations to to hostile stares. And plenty of more or less good advises. As well as some early tries at ass-kissing. Notus came rather early and thanked me for a good run, and later on Eridanus did the same. Aestarion was nowhere to be seen though. At the end of it I was so tired that I went out into that courtyard again. But I was not alone, two people were already there, quarrelling.

- How could you do this to me, Zeus? How could you just stand there and let this happen? How could you walk out on me like this? Aestarion's voice.  
- That was not what happened, and you know it, Zeus said. We fell into a cleverly laid trap.  
- I don't believe you! You would not let that happen to you...  
- You're going to have to believe, Aest! This is the truth. We had to have another vote when Notus bailed out. The mortal side was demanding that. I could not have them run over.

- Why not?  
- They would have walked out of the Nexus then. Leaving us stranded. Not all of them but the best, the ones we want there. And the whole idea with the Union Nexus and balance of power would be dead.  
- And you would have had absolute power. With me as a...

- Are you still not understanding, Aestarion of Crete? I don't want "absolute power". I could have taken it 19 years ago when Chronos was defeated. And kept it the way the tyrant kept it before I finished him off. And to what use? To sit there like a dictator and wait for someone to come along and dethrone me the very same way I did Chronos in? Which would without any doubt happen sooner or later if I had done it that way.

- Zeus, I'd...  
- Forget it! I'm actually glad Hera won the race in the end, the way you have been behaving here today. Now leave me, go dye back your hair to its normal colour, I'm tired of having a shadow all the time.

I backed into hiding when the Cretan came rushing out in front of me, not sure if Zeus had gained an enemy or if this man would actually return to his ass-kissing status when his worst rage had worn off. I started to leave, but was called back by Zeus's voice. He had sensed me in spite of my tries to stay hidden.

- Hera?  
- Zeus, I...  
- I don't care how much you've heard since it was no secret that we were supporting Aestarion. Neither was it really a secret that the Conservative was a bad looser. But I didn't think he was going to loose, so I chose to disregard that little matter.  
- Is he going to...

- He'll be back to "normal programming" within a week. But don't count on him as a friend or even an ally, he's going to need an enemy, and it might be you in lack of others. He won't blame me or the rest of the Olympos. That man doesn't work that way. He holds the Olympos in general and me especially as almost holy.  
- How can you stand that? The mortals I can accept, but...  
- That's a thing you'll have to live with. You'll encounter it soon - if you haven't already.

- The ass-kissers you mean. Yeah, I met a few already. Zeus laughed.  
- You better get used to having a wet bottom, dear Peacock!  
- Zeus, you're great at many things. But joking isn't one of them.  
- That's why I'm practising.

Then Zeus took my hands.  
- Hera, I want to wish you good luck. Even with the knowledge that you weren't the first choice of the Olympos, don't hesitate to come and ask me - or any of us for advice in running this Nexus. We'll be there for you. I'll be there, Peacock, both as a friend and as a political advisor. I know how to keep these roles apart too.  
- Thanks, Zeus.


	31. The Harvest Holiday banquet

_Thanks to __Neko Kuroban__, Cleopatra, __Sonora Faye__, Diamanda Sakura, Esther, __blackpen__ and all the rest of you out there for your support!_

* * *

**The Harvest Holiday banquet **

Settling down in the office as Nexus Chair Lord took a while. The first thing to do was finding a new Argosite immortal delegate. The chose fell not unexpectedly upon Argus. He was here and he was beginning to know the workings of the Nexus. Selene needed her pantheon to run the region and Cheiron wanted to stay home in Argos with his family.

I remained formal head over the New Dawn, but Freya and Ra ended up doing all the practical work. I also felt that we needed a better connection to the mortal branch, so Xurasa became appointed to that task, and with a recommendation to get to know the mortal head Auirey Leyorda well. Neyta remained assigned to the information gathering part as did "always-having-a-good-answer"-Apeliotes when it came to press contacts.

Then I lost Kandrios. It was his jealousy that finally killed our relation. This time he had got the impression that it was Ra I was having on my mind.  
- We were working, for Chaos' sake.  
- All the weekend?  
- Kan, you should know how it is sometimes. We had to finish...  
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, Kandrios answered absentminded and went to stand and stare out of the window, as if the Ekarantannian skyline had any answers to offer.

At that moment I felt I'd have it with this guy's all questions about what I did when I was associating with other immortal men, like Zeus and Ra as well as after Cheiron's visit the other week.  
- "Yeah, yeah, yeah" What? I don't owe you any explanations for anything. And I'm tired of you questioning me and my actions all the time.

From then on we started to scream at each other in a way that reminded me of Zeus and Themis back in year one after Union Foundation. And it all ended with me asking Kandrios to leave. He did. And never came back.

o-o-o

The Harvest Holiday takes place the day before the last weekend in Harvest Month, and it is sort of seen as a 1/3 mark of the Nexus session. According to tradition the Speaker of the Nexus arranges a party that night. This year was no exception. The banquet hall at the top floor of the Hotel Inagara was rented and prepared for the event.

I remembered last year, going there with Freya, Neyta and Electra, and how nervous we had been before we loosened up and decided to have a good time. I also remembered - how bittersweet it seemed now - that this was the event when it had actually clicked between me and Kandrios. Why had we ruined what once was so good? And could there be a chance to patch it up? was I thinking when I arrived, this time on the arm of Argus. Little did I know what the evening was having in store for me.

The Nexus banquet was not that much about protocol and tables of honour back then. There was free seating and the idea was that people were supposed to mingle, meet new faces and make new contacts. But normally you ended up sitting with your friends anyhow, and there were seldom immortals mixing with mortals even back then.

Some people did break these habits and mingled freely though. Like Leto and Orion. Leto is that kind of person who is easygoing with anyone from Zeus to mortal trash. And Orion, born from mortals, was still considering himself mortal in a way.

Yours truly on the other hand has never been that comfortable among mortals. I hate the feeling of being different, even if it comes out of supremacy. There has been exceptions of course, but mostly I prefer the company of my own kind. And I tend to prefer a close knit group of real friends instead of a lot of loose acquaintances. So today I sat down together with Argus, Neyta, Freya, Ra and Phoenix at a round eight peoples table. Two empty chairs, and I missed my dear Kandrios on one of these as well as Electra who had to go home to Troy.

Until we got unexpected company from two latecomers that was. The Olympos Pantheon was still pushing the "mingle" idea, and split up on evenings like this. So suddenly there was Zeus with Iris by his arm:  
- These seats not taken yet? the Olympian leader asked.  
- Now they are, I answered. Welcome.

Zeus and Iris were indeed welcome, breaking up old habits of conversation topics, and moved the discussions away from politics and into other, more refreshing areas. So we had an unexpectedly good time. Ra and Iris for instance found each other over some objects of mutual nuisance and were comparing experiences concerning them.

It was that night Iris started the rainbow hair fashion by the way.

After dinner we went dancing, Zeus and I. That was something we had found usselves liking more and more during our nights out on the town in disguise. Dancing. Soulfully, rhythmic and just slightly toying with lust. And always parting before it became too hot. We both knew where the line was, and we had a silent agreement to not overstep it. And we kept on the right side of it during these first uptempo swirls.

Then I danced with some colleagues and did some barhanging and girlstalking with Hestia who, after a few drinks, was in a real giggling mood. We did our usual deep-analyses of the choise of dresses by the female part of the party goers. Most of the things we dissed was the almost pornographic extravaganza worn by mortal women. But also Galathea and her glittering, transparent body-stocking got butchered.  
- She looks like a blue sausage, said Hestia.

Soon we got company by Amaterasu, Sorawe and a devastated Thetis who was crying her jade-green eyes out over Aestarion.  
- He's not worth it, Amaterasu tried to comfort Thetis. That sulking bad looser of a Zeus wannabe, who even sports the same kind of ponytail as Thundergod here tonight.  
- Really! I rose an eyebrow. Zeus had his hair tied back by a gold-coloured leather ribbon, something that made him look more like a posh rebel than an immortal Lord, a thing even Ra had bothered to point out.

- Yeah, I even mistook one for the other there, the Nipponese went on, wondering why the Chaos is Hera dancing with that defeated Cretan.  
- Come on, Ami! I joked. Can't you even tell the men you've bedded apart?  
- I never bedded Aestarion, Amaterasu said and made a face.  
- You sure? Hestia asked, pretended seriousness in her voice.  
- Hundred percent. Zeus is hot stuff and a gentleman while Aestarion is a washed-out copycat and appears to be a blunt bore.  
- Same ponytail, Sorawe laughed out loud. This is just too much! Guy's way out weird!

I told the girls how I had overheard Zeus telling Aestarion to dye back his hair on the night after the election. And now even Thetis laughed.  
- Chaos, such a looser, she said. There's definitely something wrong with him. I didn't notice that he even copied the ponytail tonight. Now I see the reasoning behind him making Electra pregnant. And Electra taking him too. The poor thing, so obsessed with Zeus as she's been. She was probably pretending it was Zeus she had in bed the night Aestarion was sawing his seeds of love in her.  
- And he probably didn't mind, but happily played along in the game, Sorawe sneared. Hestia on the other hand was naturally more worried about Zeus being innocently involved in this drama.

Electra. And Aestarion! Amaterasu was right, this was getting more and more complicated. On a night like this everything was possible it seemed. Who knows what the next talk of the town might be.

Then came this with Kandrios. Not soon after leaving the girls I spotted him in a dark corner, with his hands and eager mouth all over Dione of Cyprus. He was teasing and toying with her the very way he had been doing with me. And I felt something exploading inside my chest: a raging wave of pure and simple jealousy. Kandrios! My Kandrios together with that slut! I was only seconds from running up to them and causing a scene when I was interrupted.

It was Freya, and she was over-excited.  
- Hera, come, you've just gotta see this!  
- What?

I had no choice, the Norse woman was dragging me stubbornly along over the dancefloor, braided hair and purple dress flying behind her, and out on the balcony.  
- Down there, in the pool. Behind the palm trees. They probably think no-one would notice, nor less bothering with enhanced vision. I followed her pointing index finger.  
- Just another couple having sex. What's with that? I was still raging over seeing Kandrios and Dione and couldn't care less who were down in the pool.

Then I took a closer look. Neyta. And who was... Poseidon! So that was the "mystery man" Neyta had been mumbling about when I had been asking about her busy weekends and rosy cheeks lately!  
- Disgusting, isn't it, said Freya.  
- Why?  
- I mean, a sea specie... And it's our party comrade!  
- Come on! What's it to you? It's Neyta. Let her have her joy of life!

- It is... not normal, the Norse was saying. I felt red rage coming before my eyes:  
- Shut up! It is not for you to decide what's normal or not. The sea-people are just another kind of humans. They might be amphibians, but they are more like us than we think anyway. We can cross-breed with them and get fertile children. Halflings no stranger than Phoenix. And as long as it does no-one any harm it's not for any of us to criticise. I prefer that behaviour to people who take away lovers from others.

Then Freya heard the pain behind my words and understood that it was not the Neyta/Poseidon thing that was eating at me.  
- Hera, what is it?  
- It's Kandrios... he's... Then the tears came, and I cried, hugging and wetting the hair of the half a head shorter Norse goddess while Neyta and Poseidon enjoyed each other down in the pool and the live music was starting over inside. I told Freya what I had seen and she comforted me and told me:  
- There's someone better waiting for you somewhere. Someone who deserves you, Hera. Not that prick.

It was the Thetis thing again, but this time it was I who needed comfort, so we went inside and had a drink. Thetis was still in the bar, rather drunk now. Over that other prick, Aestarion. But the two Sun Guilders were nowhere to be seen. Freya found Zephyros and invited him upon the dancefloor, where Ra was already swirling along with Olympian Iris. I decided to get drunk too. No, really mega stoned!

But I had yet to finish my second drink when someone dropped down on the empty stool beside me. Zeus.  
- Hera! Something wrong? (He had seen it immediately!)  
- No... well really - sort of. I didn't feel like talking about it so I took him by the hand and asked him to dance with me instead.

This time we did step over that sacred line. Later on I'm not sure who was leading the way, but Zeus was kissing me before I knew it. And I was kissing back. With his taste of cinnamon and honey that 16 year old memory of the Solstice party came flooding back. But this time it was different. I didn't want him to stop this time. On the contrary. I wanted this man. I wanted him so bad!

We couldn't hear the music anymore, we did not care if anyone was staring. But later on I found out that this was one of these unusual times in life when no-one really took notice of your actions. There had been too many people kissing on that particular dancefloor that particular night for anyone to care anymore, even if it was the Lord of The Olympos kissing the Chair Lady of the Nexus this time.

Zeus lifted me up, surfing on the melody, whirled around with me in his arms and the next moment he was off the dancefloor, carrying me out of the very room. Not the balcony this time, that place was already taken. Out in the escalator hall and over into a closed down room. Locked doors did not stop Zeus, I heard the lock click open under his telekinesis and then we were inside in the dark and the door closed behind us.

A sofa. Zeus's heavy form over me, his hands conjuring away my dress. I was fumbling with the buttons on his silk chiton.  
- Zeus, I...  
- Hush, Peacock!  
- I want you. Take me!

Chaos, what was I up to? I behaved like a nymph on speed!

It was like being back in my wet dreams during the first years in Argos. Only that this was real. I was going crazy over Zeus, tearing his chiton apart when I couldn't get the buttons up. He didn't care. He was busy with his hands in previously forbidden places. I had my tongue at his neck, and tried to speak his name at the same time, muted by the soft skin beneath my trembling lips. The red and blue blinking neon light that shone in through the single window coloured him surreal, and surreal were also the sparkles of electricity playing along his hands and tickling my body, turning me into his willing mating partner.

I hadn't realised how large hands he has. Large, dry and warm. My breasts are generous, but his hands covered them completely, massaging them, then his sensitive fingers fiddled with my nipples, using them as buttons to turn me on, tune me in. His tounge followed in the wake. Other parts of him were huge too. I saw it before I felt it and my breathing went irregular.

This was not Neario, not Kandrios, this was like nothing I had experienced before. Zeus was inside me and we reached event horizon together. Euphoria. Bliss. And after - tired content. Zeus on the floor beneath the sofa, resting his head between my breasts, my hands clutching his ruffled hair. No-one spoke. There was no need. I don't know how long we rested, I don't know how long it took until someone of us finally said something. Zeus.  
- You're not going to run away this time noble Chair Lady?  
- Yes I am. With you in my arms. To a place of never never where no Nexuses or quarrelling and gossiping immortals can disturb our lovemaking. Then let's stay there for 300 years or something!

- Hera I... I don't know how many times I've wanted to do this. And I felt so miserable with myself because of that. I mean, we're friends, and supposed to stay that way, aren't we?  
- We're still friends. I looked him in the eyes, halfway hidden behind long tangles of blond hair. The ponytail was no more. I had ruined it for him with my hungry hands as well as I had trashed his shirt.  
- It's not like I'm 25 years old anymore, insecure and still crying for Neario, I went on. And you are not married to Themis or someone, you are up for catch, Eagle. And Faith knows how many contenders I've beaten tonight.

Zeus laughed. He picked up his toga from the floor and then he pulled it around himself and around me. Not until then did I realise that my dress was as ruined as his clothes. What were we? Animals? He lifted me up, went over to the window, opened it and jumped out in the neon-coloured night with me in his arms. Ekarantanni's sounds embraced us. Traffic, music, sirens and electrically enhanced voices.

The air was almost chilly, with a tint of autumn in it, Fall Month was waiting a few days ahead and with it warm, mature-smelling days with sharp mountain air and chilly nights. Summer was coming to an end.  
- Let's go home, Zeus was whispering in my ear.  
- Home, like in where... My place or your place? (Oups! cliché-warning, Hera!)  
- Why, Olympos of course.

o-o-o

I woke up next morning with Zeus still sleeping beside me. The sun had been up for quite a while, blinding me when it finally reached the bed where we had been making love and half-sleeping in each others arms all through the night. I turned, looked at Zeus. Head resting close to me, blond hair like a halo around his handsome face. I had seldom seen it so wild and curly, usually he kept it tied away from his face and under firm control. And those whirls where the hairline met the face. Cute! Eyes closed, moving, he was dreaming. Classic nose covered in hardly visible freckles, a smile playing on his generous lips. I couldn't help wondering what he was dreaming.

And that body! Shaped out of a womans dreams. Broad shoulders, bulging muscles. Tan. Soft hair of gold covering his chest. Hard belly muscles, and well hung. Long, lean and sinewy legs. No wonder all these goddesses had been running their feet off to get him. No wonder Electra was crying herself to sleep over him and libertarian Mnemosyne was staring at him when she thought no one was noticing. Freya was using Zeus as her favourite fantasy - wonder if her imagination was even close.

I kissed him on one of those whirls and then on his lips. He woke up, blue eyes meeting brown. Smiles. We made love again and again. Breakfast in bed. Talked a lot.  
- Eagle, dear, was this a mistake? I'm not sure...  
- If it was it certainly was a pleasant one. And as you said yesterday, we are grown up now. You're 42, I'm 47. We know life now. We know more about human nature. We are both past that part of life where a night of joy should ruin a special friendship like ours. Hera, you are so strong these days. You can sample pleasure out of life without hurting yourself.

- I guess... I mean, I love what we did here tonight, Zeus, and I would never have it undone. But I think I prefer us to remain friends. I hope you're not going to expect more. I know you have had your small stories with Amaterasu, Mnemosyne and other women, but I don't want anything like that. I want – well, I want what we have today. It's complicated enough with our political positions.  
- Don't let them come in your way, Hera! We can do whatever we want, be whoever we want. That's the best thing with this position I have created for myself. I can have my own agenda.

- But I can't. I have to stay... As the Nexus Chair Lady I can't entangle myself too deep with the Olympos, and if not having you inside of me is exactly that I don't know what is.  
- Don't worry. If this is to remain a one night stand, fine by me, I'll treasure it. And if we chose to do something more out of it we will always think of something. But let's not decide that yet.

He got his way with that, as with so many other things, this convincing man. We parted, I went home, worked a while and then I went over to Neyta. Some political reason as a bad excuse to find out how much "talk of the town" Zeus and I actually were. None, oddly. It was all about Scadé and Apeliotes.  
- Chaos, what a fight! Neyta was rolling her eyes. You should have seen them, but I guess you'd already left at that time. You went home early I assume. They were beating each other up like you wouldn't believe it.

- So it's over between them?  
- You might say that, yeah. Neyta laughed. And I guess that was it during that party. Then there were minor thingies, like poor Thetis getting filthy drunk, Aethra fooling about with Paladin and Olympic Eos running off with Amaterasu's old flirt Androdorus, while Olympic Iris did the same with our Ra. And a rumour about Orion having made a mortal woman pregnant caused another fight between him and Galathea. I lost track on Zeus though, so I don't know who he took home. Probably Amaterasu, third's a charm you know. By the way, Kandrios came asking for you, but that was after you'd left. Has he been in touch with you?

- No.  
- He said he was sorta desperate. There was something he wanted to apologise for. But you two are still over, right?  
- Way right. At the moment I don't want to see his miserable appearance, I told Neyta. And Chaos, it felt nice to say that. And to let Neyta keep believing Zeus went home with the Nipponese, seemed like a safe draw at the moment. The two of us had managed to avoid being spotted, and I wanted it to stay that way. If this was to be a one night stand, it could as well remain our little secret. I said nothing about Neyta and Poseidon being seen by Freya on the other hand. That was none of my business.

Then we met again, Zeus and I. Downtown. Undercover. Went to a concert at the New Odeon (It was really new back then, still smelled of wet concrete) with this mortal lady named Karauina Keyartha. It's so sad she died before recording devices became common. Her voice that night was beyond description, pure like crystal. Zeus and I were sitting with our arms around each other, my head on his sholder, and at that time we felt more like lovers than friends.

But we were aware of that invisible line. We both knew that if we had been together that second night we would have passed the point of no return. And we were a bit scared of that both of us, even if I knew that Zeus would never admit such a thing. So we parted. He went back to his mountaintop and I went to my flat, took a shower and fell in a long and oddly dreamless sleep.


	32. A night at Olympos

**A night at Olympos **

The part of the Nexus session following the Harvest Holiday is dedicated to the budget and finances of the Union. It's generally considered the most tedious part of the political year. And I felt every minute of it here in the Chair Lady's office.

First there is this limited amount of money. Money never seems to be enough, whatever you do. Then there are all these "I want"-ers. They pop up like autumn flowers every year around this season. Organisations and lobbyists as well as the sole god or mortal who keeps claiming that just their case is so important and that they require this and that amount of money to make it tick. After a while I learned to hand over these delegations to my new assistant Tiaros. He was a bit harder to convince, and he usually came in to me with a smug look on his face and let me know that he had turned them down.

Another great helper I couldn't have done without was Olympic Iris. She scared off most of the lobbyists by keeping re-scheduling their appointments until they tired and gave up.  
- No, the Chair Lady is busy, I could hear her say on the phone sometimes. (Chaos, that invention had really taken off!) She has to move your meeting, Iris lied totally shameless. Yes, again, something came up so she can't see you this time either. No, I'm not obliged to say what. Sorry about that... (hanging up) ...I am not! she finished the sentence almost screaming and gave me thumbs up.  
- Iris, you're ruthless!  
- Thanks. I'm learning.

So came all those long nights when we tried to balance the crap. And everlasting debates in the assemblies. Sometimes I felt that I had to be present in both places. And at several other places at the same time as well. I don't know how many nights I slept in the office. Or how many meals I ate running between meetings, when it was just about feeding myself.

On top of everything I still had my obligations as formal head of New Dawn. The party was being run smoothly by Freya and Ra and the delegates knew where to go, what to do and how to vote mostly because of this shared leadership. The problems were instead happening on the personal level.  
- I can't understand what I've done to Freya, but she keeps avoiding me, said Neyta.  
- Have you asked her why? I wondered.

- Yeah, but she don't want to say. She had a party the other night and I learned about it only later, when Elli told me. I was not welcome. I don't know what I have done to her. It's like... like... almost like she considers me filthy and disgusting. Like I'm smelling bad or something.

Thus I had to talk to Freya about Neyta and her love affair. Freya was very unable to listen first and it took me hours to convince her that it was still the same Neyta even if she had been making love with Poseidon in that pool. The problem, I soon realised, was the cultural heritage the Norse goddess had got. Interracial relations were not seen as something healthy up in Vanahem. even if it was rather accepted in the cultural spheres around Central Ocean it had almost been a total novelty to Freya.

Luckily Freya gave in in the end and went to Neyta with a peace offer. She told the Kergandarian about seeing her and Poseidon in hotel Inagara's pool and that it had disgusted her, and that she still wasn't very comfortable with the thought, but at least willing to accept it.  
- Fine, Neyta was saying. And don't worry, Freya. It's not that I'm pregnant or something. We were just having a bit fun the sea-god and I.

Less lucky was the developement of the relationship between Electra and Aestarion. Apparently Sorawe hadn't been that far away from the truth when she joked about Aestarion playing Zeus while in bed with Electra. And their games were starting to affect the Trojan badly. She was almost starting to mix fantasy with reality and talked of the Cretan as Zeus from time to time. I tried to reason with her and so did Freya and Amaterasu, but to no avail. Electra was unhappy and that relation was devastating to her.

o-o-o

Autumn Month followed Fall Mount and then came Dark Month and with it the budget work was over. I spent a great night at the Olympos, my first since the visit to Zeus after the Harvest Holiday banquet. Everyone was there. Even Poseidon. I was not the only outsider either, Iris had dragged up Ra. It was his first visit, so he was in for the Grand Tour. Tiaros, Xenon and Mnemosyne were the other visitors. After almost involuntarily making me Chair Lady the latter had stopped looking down her nose at me, instead we had sort of become "partners in crime".

The only grain in the cup was Demeter. She had been rather reserved against me, since my return from Argos, and I had never managed to crack that shell of hers. Cold was her brown eyes when they regarded me over the dinner table, and she had said nothing but the mandatory politenesses.

This time there was no Amaterasu or other obstacles between me and Zeus. After dinner more than half of the gang ran down for hide and seek games in the cavities of the mountain. And I found myself almost in Zeus's lap in a sofa in that huge longue with the fire in the middle. Hestia served drinks and Xenon was flirting with Leto. Tiaros was sitting silent most of the time, while Astraios and Eos were talking Nexus politics with Mnemosyne.

Zeus didn't say that much. He questioned Tiaros a bit of his impressions of 'Tanni, but then he seemed content with listening to what everybody else had to say.  
- I always talk, he told me. When I come home I want to listen instead. How else can I learn something new?

- But weren't you a little bit hard on Apollon tonight? I mean, laurel in the hair, it'll be "untrendy" next week. And he's a wonderful boy. So big deal?  
- No, not really. To be honest I couldn't care less as long has he stays a honest and decent young man. But I have to scold him a bit. Tell him that he looked stupid and immature, so he can at least get the impression that this teen revolution thing of his is working. By the way, he did look ridiculous.

After a few hours people were starting to leave. Either to go home or to bed. But I was sitting drowsy, overworked and couldn't gather strength enough to even rise from that sofa. The drinks did its best to knock me down too. I felt like I could need some Nectar to kick-start myself down the mountain and home. But instead I found myself with my head in Zeus's lap, almost falling asleep.  
- Hey, Peacock! Little girl gonna sleep here tonight again?  
- Huh... Not really... Need to go home... I guess...  
- No need to. Weekend tomorrow. Stay here!

And it happened again. Zeus and I made love in that big bed in his airy room where the roof can be taken off, like on a clear full moon night like this. Then we fell asleep in each others arms like it was the most natural thing in the world. The question "what happened to just friendship" did not even appear. I was falling in love and I was falling fast. And there was no parachute anywhere.

_Neario took my face in his:  
- Whatever happens, beloved, I will always love you and treasure you. But if anything happens to me, I don't want you to dwell... I want you to go ahead with your life and find new horizons. New opportunities, new love. _

The dream, or was it a memory, woke me up fast. He had been so real, my dead and lost beloved. And the living, breathing and very much present Zeus was sleeping with his arms around my waist, the heat of his forehead making my neck sweaty, hair wet.

Neario had been right of course, that time all those years ago. But was this what he had meant? Was this the opportunity the memory of my beloved had wanted me to catch? Or was it a warning from the past?

I knew Zeus. We all knew Zeus. As a good friend he was the best. Trustworthy, honourable and full of care. But as a lover - that was a completely different story. All those women... I didn't want to end up as Electra. Themis had left him head over heels, and the Amaterasu story hadn't worked either. And what had really happened between him and Mnemosyne? The only one who seemed to have come unhurt out of his bedchamber was Leto. And she appeared to have been more interested in having his children than having him anyway.

No, the more I thought about it, the more certain I was about not wanting to become one in that long row of women in Zeus's life. So what was I going to do about this? Last time I ran away, but that was not an option this time. And where to run? Talk to Zeus? I knew that I could never win an argument with him over this. We might sound like we were on the same level in the Nexus, but alone together like this I was chance-less, and I could only rejoice that he didn't use his abilities to try to alter my political standpoints. At least he respected me that much.

Were there alternatives left? I could use someone to talk to. And there was only one person I could think of.

Hestia was still asleep when I knocked on the door to her suite.  
- Hera? Whassup? You've been here tonight? Drowsy green eyes, henna-red hair in a mess.  
- Yes I have. And that's what's up. Can I talk to you for a while?  
- Certainly. Come on in! My oldest friend held up her door.

Hestia's suite was not as large and airy as Zeus's, it was more cosy. It was decorated in red, orange, gold and some small details of black, like ebony tables and stools. With a single gesture of pyrokinetics my friend started a fire in the large hearth.  
- Hate these damp and cold mornings, she said. Hate this complete season to be honest. That was actually the best part with living down in South Kalyda. No winters. Sometimes I wonder why we couldn't have stayed there, why we had to move the whole shebang to Thessalia instead. Breakfast?

I nodded and then Hestia was mindtalking to somebody. She seated herself in a large, comfortable armchair and indicated the opposite one for me.  
- Now my dear 'Sister, let me guess. Zeus, right?  
- Was it that obvious? I mean, last night...  
- Last night? You're kidding. It has been obvious since you sat foot in 'Tanni last year.

- Hestia, I wanted my friend back, that was all. And I succeeded - but first after almost nine months. I was together with Kandrios at that time. Remember? But now it's different. And has been since the Harvest Holiday Banquet when Zeus and I sort of stepped over the sacred line. Tonight we were together again. And now I don't know what to do.  
- Come on! He's free. Take him, make him yours! That's what you want, right?

- It's not that easy and you know it. I don't want to be number whatever on his already too long list. I want a lasting relation. An enduring one. I'm sick of affairs now. I know that what I had with Neario was special and I can't have that back, but there ought to be more than just a tornado of a romance which ends after a few vibrant months, and that's it. I know that I can't have what the mortals refer to as "forever" when they give each other their wedding promises. But I want someone who can be there for me even on a cloudy Firstday in the middle of Union Budget season. Somewhere where I can put my head when it's throbbing after a too-long debate over pointless details. Someone who wants me to massage his neck while he tells stupid jokes.

- Hera, I know what you mean. I'm probably the one who have known Eagle the longest, save for Demeter and Poseidon. And I know all of his women affairs. I was one of them, remember. But you're special to him. He'd never hurt you. He'd never play around with you the way he has been doing with all those delegates and other goddesses who run around here in 'Tanni.  
- I'm special as a friend, and that was what it was supposed to be. If only I hadn't...  
- I can even say that he loves you. Maybe even as much as he loved Metis once. Only that he don't want to admit that to himself. But you have to show him.

- How can I do that?  
- Stay here! Stay with him! The hardest part of the Nexus Session is over. It's almost time for the Olympic Winter Ball and then comes what people refer to as "the crazy session" when all those mortals drop their weird ideas about what they want to do with the Union. Remember that? You can spend time together. Go downtown undercover, the way I know you have been doing to from time to time. Dance. Make love. Talk. Or just be there for each other.

- You're just like him, making it all sound so easy.  
- Maybe it's you instead, Hera, making everything sound so complicated.  
- But I don't want to be Electra. Or even Amaterasu. Her daughter is due in any day now by the way.

- You're neither Elli nor Ami. They were adventures to Zeus. Ways for him to relax and feel loved. But he has only loved twice in his life. Themis and then Metis. I even think it was a bit shallow with Themis, he was more in love with love than with her. I almost thought he was going to come back to me from time to time. Then this thing with Leto happened.  
- Would you have wanted that? Eagle to come back, I mean?  
- Yeah, I guess... Back then at least. But I know that today I'm glad it did not happen. I prefer him as a 'Brother and a friend to be honest.

- So do I. It was not supposed to happen, this second mistake with him. Or this third.  
- They were no mistakes. Well maybe the first. But a 42 year old woman don't make that kind of mistakes. Not really. She goes to bed with a man because she wants him. Or - as some people around - wants his baby.  
- But Leto was...

- I'm not referring particularly to Leto. Or Elli. There are others. I guess you've heard about Europa.  
- Aestarion's assistant, cute little freckled brunette. You've been pointing out her way too short skirts from time to time.  
- She had a son at the beginning of this year. Minos. You were even there to admire the little miracle.   
- Don't tell me he was... I thought he was Aestarion's.

- Nah, Minos is Zeus's boy all right. Europa spent one night with Zeus. One night! And that night she let loose her little egg. Poor Warbrother was used as a mating bull. We both laughed, but then Hestia got serious again:  
- Do think about what I said at least! But not too long. To know where you stand at the Olympic Winter Ball might be a good idea.  
- But that's in less than two weeks.  
- More than enough. Trust your instincts, 'Sister!

Then a servant nymph arrived with our breakfast and we ate while we were talking mostly about what had already been said. And I wondered how on Earth I was going to be able to make up my mind before the Olympic Winter Ball, or how I could trust my instincts when they were telling me inconsistent things. I knew I wanted Zeus, but I also knew that taking him as a lover might cost me him as friend. And I didn't want to loose that friend. Not again. It had been so hard to get him back and so great to have him back.


	33. Stop running!

_MugenLuver, __Sonora Faye__, diamanda sakura, __Smiling Eyes__, Neko Kuroban, Lurker and all the rest of you - thank you for your support! Here's the nesxt installment, hope you have as fun reading it as I have writing it :o)  
_**

* * *

****Stop running! **

Already four days later Sakura was born. And Amaterasu went up to the Olympos to let the father see his child. I had seen the little girl, she had been so cute. Ami had been radiantly happy when he set off for the mountain top. But when I should have been happy for my friend, I was raging with jealousy instead. Raging because Amaterasu had something together with Zeus that I didn't, and was probably not ever going to get, because I had no intention to "egg" him as Europa had.

I was sitting in the Chair Lady's office trying to work, but I could not get the visions out of my head. The visions of Zeus and Amaterasu together with their young girl. Zeus holding Sakura. Maybe the "third's a charm"- thing Neyta had been talking about would work this time. I felt tears burning beneath my lids, and I had hard to understand these feelings. Half a year ago I had told Amaterasu that I'd be more than happy if she patched it up with Zeus. But that had been "pre-Harvest Holiday".

I didn't understand half of what was going on inside of me. I guess that first time with Zeus, at the banquet, had been partly about getting back at Kandrios. To show at least myself that I didn't care, that had no problem with moving on after our break. But then - at Olympos? Why had I let Zeus take me to bed that night? Was it really as Hestia claimed, that I had wanted Zeus all the time? And when had that started? Back in Argos? Those dreams, those embarrassing and strangely exciting dreams of me and him together? What had triggered them?

- Admit it, Hera! I said to myself, staring at my warped reflection in the brass pen cup on the desk. Admit that you love Zeus. You desire him, you want him like desperate! And he has probably understood it too, and taken advantage of it of course. The only thing he wants to do is play. And you know it! How could you let this happen to you?

For once the Mirror-Hera didn't answer, she just sat there with a despairing look in her large brown eyes, sighing and biting her lower lip, trying to understand. Trying to understand why a mature goddess suddenly had acted like a teenager on a hormone high. And with the one person it shouldn't have happened with!

Zeus, the man in black leather and heavy boots, whom I had first met in a closed-down factory back in the war days, and been so awed by. Zeus who had become my brother in arms and later on one of my best friends. Zeus, who's charisma, strength and intelligence had made him Divine King. Zeus who could have became the most powerful dictator ever, but had chosen to share his power, not only with gods but with mortals as well. Zeus who considered romance and passion as nothing but a funny social game. That very man had taken me by surprise and robbed me of my heart! And I had just let it happen!

There was an ugly, red glass piece sitting next to the pen cup. Something Kandrios had given me once. And now finally it came to an use. I picked it up and threw it with full force out through the closed window. And to the sound of breaking glass and alarm setting off I finally found peace in my mind.

Iris came running in, tailed by the mortal janitor, wanting to know what had happened, but I assured that it was OK.  
- I think I just solved a problem, I told the other goddess. I finally knew what I was going to do.  
Starting the letter to Zeus was the hardest thing. But then I just had to write with the flow.

_My dear friend!  
This is rather hard for me to put down on paper, but I realise that it would be even harder to say it to you face to face. My voice would break, I would be in tears before even being half way. The thing is that something happened. Something I've been trying so hard to avoid. I almost fell in love with you, Eagle. That last night together was nearly the last straw. And I'm scared of myself, scared of this development. I don't want a short romance, because I know that when it is over so will our friendship be. There will only be void left. And it would be much worse than all those years ago when I ran off to Argos. So I think it's better if we don't see each other for a while. Beside professional level that is. Take care of yourself and congratulations on your daughter.  
/Hera _

o-o-o

The next weekend I spent by following Electra to Troy. I'd always been curious about that city, the largest one on the Eastern West coast. And though it was way smaller than Ekarantanni it almost rivalled Argos in size. The skyline was set low, but with a handful of skyscrapers sticking up their arrogant fingers over the rest of the buildings. The oddest landmark though was a huge dome painted in bright colours.  
- The Mirda Arena, Elli said. The Titans built it back in the war days. But we never bothered with tearing it down, we needed the structure. Instead we painted it like crazy, to spell away that Titanic greyness. These days it's used for everything from theatre and music to sports and political rallies.

I got to meet her son Dardanos, and although I knew who his father was I could hardly find any resemblance to Zeus beyond those big, blue eyes. He was slender built like his mother, with almost Asian features and a lot of pigmentation. My first impression was shyness, but when he got over it he showed brilliance and wit.  
- He had to grow up early, being major deity of Troy being only 12 years old. And now there's a little brother coming too. Aestarion's son. At least something good came out of that destructive relationship. I'm glad you talked me out of it, Hera. Now I can say that, even if I didn't listen first.

Electra and I also visited some teach-ins which could be seen as forerunners to the mortal General Election that was due in a few months. 1/3:rd of the seats in the mortal assembly of the Nexus was up for game and as always with great elections there was a growing excitement in the air. The Trojan New Dawn candidates proved promising. More promising than the wimps I'd seen running in Ekarantanni.

But the most interesting thing with Troy was the research done in quantum physics at the Scamandros Laboratories and the discovery of the connection between sub-quarks and the force the human soul is made of. Elli and I talked to a scientist named Mirdiad Vaulardino and he was one of the most interesting and inspiring mortals I'd met.

- The similarities between the sub-quark force in the third dimensional physical world and the soul-energy is actually greater than what we scientists have ever dared to believe. Our research at the Scamandros Laboratories has proven this tight connection between the physical and the spiritual world. We have found proof that the spiritual universe is expanding just like the physical universe does, as well as other similarities between spiritual laws and the physical laws of sub-atomic nature.

- This might also explain a lot of hitherto unexplainable ways the human soul can affect physical matters as well as contact with souls of the dead and other phenomena. Things that has been described, but not been possible to prove until now.

We went on talking about these matters all trough the Seventhday, and when leaving the Scamandros Laboratories my head was spinning. Contacts with dead people being proved in laboratories! This was revolutionary stuff! Suddenly the things we were doing in the Union Nexus felt so shallow.

But my homecoming to Ekarantanni brought me right back on ground level again. I had but set foot in my apartment when the doorbell rang. It was Demeter. And she was furious.

- What kind of games is it you're playing now, Hera? she wanted to know and by brute soulforce had me backing into a corner of my living room, almost knocking a lamp over.  
- I'm sorry but I don't know what you are referring to. If it's about the environmental hearing...

- It's not bloody politics, it's about my brother, Hera. Why are you doing this to him? Why can't you ever stop hurting him? What has he done to you to deserve such a treatment from you?  
- What do you mean? I...  
- You know very well what I'm talking about. You have been playing with Zeus since you came back to 'Tanni last year. Teasing him, checking how far you can go. And he has been loving and caring all the way. Then you can't even end it face to face but write him a simple letter. He's devastated now. I have never seen him in such a bad shape. Not even when Metis died.

Finally I understood:  
- Demeter, that's not the case. We have never really been lovers. We're - we used to be good friends. I treasured that friendship. What I did was the mistake of going to bed with Zeus. Twice. After the second time I realised I was starting to fall in love with him. And you know as well as I do how much love affairs mean to him. It's a game for him. And I don't want to play that game. I don't want to get hurt like Electra of Troy.

- My brother has lost everyone he has been caring about...  
- That's not true either. He still has you. He has his children. He has his Olympian pantheon. I, on the other hand lost my mother and father during the war, and then I lost Neario, who was...  
- I'm sick of Neario! And I'm sick of the way you keep hiding behind his sorry faith to avoid taking responsibility for your love-life! My brother offered you his heart and you took it - and threw it to the ground and then you stepped on it.

- Shut up, Demeter! I had but come to Ekarantanni to find him in the arms of Amaterasu. Not that I grudge him that relation. But we hardly saw each other the first year. Then we regained our lost friendship at the end of last session, only to have me ruining it a few days ago. Zeus might sulk over that letter but he must also understand that he has a history of hurting people with his behaviour. And, for the second time, I don't want to be hurt like that. Now, can you please get out of my home!  
- With pleasure! You and I have nothing to say to each other anymore, Hera of Argos. I assume you won't be visiting Olympos anymore, so good bye for now.

Demeter's departure left me with an echoing emptiness in my chest. So that had been her problem. She thought that I had been playing games with Zeus! Apparently she refused to see her brother's behaviour. But that was no comfort to me. On the contrary, it only made me feel even more miserable. Demeter and I had never been close, but now she was obviously despising me. And the Olympos, which had almost felt like a second home only days ago, was now even more distant than it had been upon my return to the Union Capital.

After a while the blessed tears came. I ended up sitting on the floor in the corner, wetting the wallpaper while going through and trying to understand the events that had led to this, wishing I could find the point where it had started to go real wrong. But there was really no such point. It had all been a question of small steps and "If only I hadn't"-s. Steps that had had me ending up in the very situation I had wanted to avoid all the time. Going into a love relationship with Zeus and thus ruining our friendship.

I don't know if I fell asleep or what happened, but suddenly there was someone talking to me, calling my name. I looked up - and met the face of my mother.

So many years - but the memory of her face was apparently knife-sharp, from whatever drawer it had been brought up. Aningari looked the very same way she had the day before the Titans killed her. Sad and worried, brown curls around her triangle-shaped face, almond-shaped, brown eyes, a bit lighter than mine.  
- Stop running away from your life, Hera! she was saying. Turn around and embrace it instead!  
- How could I... Mother...?

But then she was gone, room empty again and the sound of a misfiring car engine blasting through the silence of the sleepy suburb at the foot of the Olympos.


	34. Zeus

**Zeus**

Finding Zeus was not hard. For once he was using his Nexus office. I didn't bother with announcing my appearance, I just rushed by his assistants and through the great double doors without knocking. Zeus was meeting with Xenon and Dione when I entered the spacious corner office, and the delegates looked up with a mix of surprise and irritation. Zeus's expression was harder to read though.

- Zeus, can I talk to you alone? I asked, tried to sound demanding. This is an emergency. Zeus rose, looking at the two Liberals and hesitated a second before saying:  
- If you'll excuse us. This will only take a minute I guess. Then he nodded to me: Come, Hera, we'll use the small conference room. Hope this really is as urgent as you say. I don't want to be rude to the delegates.

We entered the not-so-small room to the side of Zeus's office and I skipped the preludes:  
- Zeus, listen, I screwed up. I guess I'm not as mature as I thought I was. I guess I'm still running away from things. I felt tears coming into my eyes at those words, I wanted to touch him but hesitated.  
- What have you been running from now then? Zeus' voice more comforting than confused.  
- From you. I...

- Peacock, I guess I screwed up too. I should have told you earlier...  
- What?  
- Hera I love you, I love you, please do believe me! I know I don't have the best reputation around, but I'm sincere about this.

- So am I. Finally. The only thing is I don't really know if I fell in love with you that other night at the Olympos. Or if I only understood that I was in love with you and had been since... like... since when I have no clue. I only knew that I loved you so bad it scared the soul out of me. I was so afraid of getting hurt.  
- Hera... I've been in love with you since the first day I saw you upon your return to 'Tanni. You remember that night? The Grand Opening reception?  
- How can I not?

_- Zeus, I called. He turned around, looking at me as I stepped out of the door frame. He stopped in his movement.  
- We really must get time to talk. There are so many things I want to say to you. _

- When I saw you that night... transformed from an insecure war-princess desperately trying to fit in with the concept of peace to a mature, blooming goddess determined to do politics, and when I heard your laughter for the first time in 15 years, then I felt that I must have you. I wanted you so much that night, and it didn't want to go away. If Paladin hadn't interrupted us it might have happened already at that time.  
- But what took you so long... the thing with Amaterasu and all that?

- I was scared - too.  
- You, Zeus - scared?  
- Yes, I feared you would turn me town. I feared a repeat of that 15 year old Solstice drama. Then, suddenly, you were together with Kandrios of Elesios. So what started out as a flirt with Ami suddenly became an almost year long relation - and a daughter.

I put my arms around Zeus.  
- I'll give you a daughter too. One day.  
- I'd love to have a daughter from you. Or three. And some sons too. Zeus held me and laughed, the late morning sun shining in through the tall window, turning his hair into gold.

- One more thing, before I have to go back to Xenon and Dione, what made you come back to me?  
- It was my mother.  
- But isn't she...  
- Dead, I know. But she came to me in a dream. This is for real. There's even physical proof, laboratory proof, that the deads souls can come through to the measurable dimensions. Mama did just that. She told me to stop running away from my life. So I took my mother's advice. I stopped and turned around. And there was you!

o-o-o

No matter that it was Wintermonth, gray and gloomy as always this time of the year in Ekarantanni. No matter that some very dirty fighting was going on in the Nexus, mostly in the mortal wing at the moment. No matter that my workload could feel overwhelming from time to time, it was still wonderful days, some of the best days I have ever had.

I was with Zeus, we were in love and I was getting to know him better than ever before. And – in the process, myself as well. I had never loved and felt loved like this before. Kandrios had been nice, Neario wonderful, but Zeus was overwhelming. Loving Zeus was like somersaulting on the edge of vertigo. Like sending out my heart in zero-g, a constant free fall.

Being younger I had used to experiment with jumping off high places and giving up to gravity, falling freely and stopping only in time to avoid impact with the ground. The sensation in the inner organs had been similar to what I was feeling now. Only that this was a fall of the soul, towards the gravity centre that was Zeus.

We stole time from our duties to be together, ran off south to better weather and solitary beaches for breathtaking love-making. Zeus always found those little bays with waterfalls and butterflies which I always had thought only existed in kitsch paintings. We turned incognito and went for exciting adventures in downtown Ekarantanni including exotic meals, dancing and people-spotting. And we had fun together, with Zeus I laughed like never before.

Probably most important, we spent long hours together talking, opening up to each other in a way I never thought I would do with another human being. Because Zeus was listening, because he asked the right questions, the kind of questions no one had ever asked me before, I found myself telling things, remembering things buried deep in my soul. He had found ores of memories I had thought were unreachable, memories of mum and dad, memories of my first innocent years when I knew nothing of the perils lying ahead of me.

With those memories tears had come. Tears brought up by strange and strong emotions, and Zeus held me close, fed me relief. And at the end of the day, to the sound of rattling rain upon the roof, we fell asleep in each others arms, in comfortable safety.

I had never thought that it was possible to connect so deeply with another soul.

At the same time – the teenager Hera had seen her Neario as flawless, as someone perfect, who could never err. A being not from this world, faiths gift to me to make up the loss of my parents. That would probably had been an unbearable burden for that young man at some time hadn't I lost him too.

But Zeus I knew too well, and I was aware of him as a real being, with all the benefits and faults of a real being. My Zeus is secure, serious and caring and when he believes in something he can dedicate his soul into it. Like our love, which started out as a raw cut diamond, which we polished into brilliant perfection over the years to come. Or the Union and the ideas behind or the Pantheon, the House of Olympos. Zeus believes in honesty and fair play and he values friendship and kinship dearly. When he takes that stand you can do nothing but respect him.

He's mostly steady as the mountain he has built his pantheon upon, but when he loses his temper you don't really want to be around. I've seen his rage scare people really bad more than once. His biggest fault is his somewhat careless attitude towards strangers and loose acquaintances, immortals as well as mortals. They might become pawns in his games if they don't look out. A good example is all those women he takes to bed and then bluntly dumps later on. Often he miss those little signs that should tell him he's hurting people. At the same time - us close to him can always count on his care and support. This double-nature also shows itself in the regal distance he tends to take among strangers while he's easygoing and relaxed among his own.

Then it was his enduring passion for beautiful women and physical enjoyments with them. I doubted that he would stay faithful to me, but I kept pushing that knowledge under the carpet, willing it away. I could cross that bridge when I got to it, I reasoned.

Meanwhile I found myself at his lofty Olympos, this luxurious vista where no convenience is missing. I found myself telling him about my years in Argos while we bathed together in a hot pool in a marble vault lit by soft candles in a crystal chandelier.

Or walked hand in hand in a fairytale garden while Zeus told about all this old knowledge to be found in the books he had inherited from the late Metis. Knowledge dating back to the first gods, the founders of the old Grand Pantheons. Treasures that might have been lost if Metis hadn't been obsessed with collecting old books and if Zeus hadn't seen the value in keeping them after her death.  
- Who knows when we might need what's in there, he said.

Or feasted on left-over food in the waste kitchen when Zeus asked for advice on:  
- What to do with these mortals? They spend their short lives with slander, backstabbing each other with poisonous knifes instead of striving together towards a better world. What is the point in running to the press lying about your enemy? Who does it help, in the long term?

- Zeus, we're seldom better, I returned, filling up glasses with greenish orange mango nectar. In fact some of us are rather skilled backstabbers too. But I guess we're more subtle, not as blunt. We know that we are not fighting brute but dumb titans with adamantine blades, but intelligent beings of our own kind. We know we can't get away with violence, not even of the verbal kind. We keep our minds cool while the mortals boil over.

Zeus mumbled something unaudible while cutting up cheese and then he looked at me:  
- Hera, are we smarter than them? I mean really? The old gods of the lost pantheons ruled by force and number. But what gave them the right, morally? What gives us the right?  
- Our strive to change things, making a better world, I replied, chewing at some nuts. And the people who helped us to power because they trust us. We owe it to them to rule.

We talked a lot of philosophy like that as well as mere day to day events. And I was enchanted with all the things happening in that brilliant mind of his. Zeus could change subject on a spot and keep his mind on several discussions going on at once, like on those lengthy dinners at Olympos, where more or less all of us met to go over the events of the day.

And I was slowly getting used to having a family again, to for the first time in years being part of a larger unit. To be surrounded by other people all the time and the interaction and interdependence that came with it.

I had left this family years ago, and returning was not like taking it up where I had left. So much had changed, some peoplev were not around, others had replaced them, and the rest had matured and changed. My old slot was simply not there anymore. I had never been Olympian. Add to that my new position – as Zeus' beloved and queen-to-be and I had become a piece that had to carve her way into the puzzle again.

Demeter wasn't entirely pleased with my arrival, she still mistrusted me, and Athena was jealously guarding her father's fondness and time for her. But even Leto seemed a bit uncomfortable, even if she got over it fast. Same with Astraios, he had wanted me once, and now I was loving his pantheon head instead.

The twins on the other hand seemed more cool with my appearance. They were "used to stepmothers" they said, hinting at the coming and going of earlier loves of Zeus.  
- Guess you are of the staying kind, Artemis said. Dad has never behaved like this with any of the other 'desses.  
- How? I asked.  
- So enchanted. He's like totally bubbly in his head over you. I think papa's in love and so does mama. The others have just been pals who daddy slept with.

- Pals, hmm... What does your mother think about Zeus being in love then? Is she - comfortable with it? Not jealous?  
- Nah, Artemis shook her dark head and laughed, She's thumbling with Astraios, ya see.  
- Astraios?  
- Yeah, but she thinks no one knows yet?

- But you do?  
- Affirmative. And Apollon. I came in to mama one morn' and Astraios had been there. Place fizzed of his aura and there was sex in the air.  
- And how does Apollon know?  
- 'Coz I told him, Artemis stated frankly.

- Although, I don't get it, she said after a while and looked at me while cuddling one of the turquoise pillows of the large sofa, suddenly looking so tiny and almost insecure.  
- Get what, Artemis? That your mother is in love?  
- The point.  
- What point?

- With sex. To me it's just sticky and wet and complicated. And a complete waste of time. I don't get the point. Why do people do it all the time? And when they don't do it they talk about it. Who's doing it, and with whom and who's good and who's bad at it. Why? Why care?

I met the electric blue eyes of the young girl, remembering my own insecurities at the same age. This tomboy daughter of Zeus was getting to know how it was to become a woman. And she felt it quite awkward. I laid a comforting arm around her, telling:

- Mimi, you're fifteen. I hardly got the point either at your age. You have years and years to find out. Decades! Centuries!! I'm 42 and I still feel like a newbie.  
- Apollon think it's fabulous. He's all enchanted, running after those brain-dead nymphs. He'll end up like dad - oh, sorry, Hera, I didn't mean that.  
- No offence taken, I know what you mean. Getting snared by the sex-drive. That can easily happen if we're not careful.  
- I won't let that happen to me! And that's a final!

It was still a classified secret that I was living up here. A love relation between the Divine King and the Nexus Chair Lady was a sensitive piece of information and not to be delivered without delicacy. The Olympians were loyal, they kept their mouths shut, but I was still keeping this secret from my New Dawn party, still trying to figure out a way to tell it without endangering my political independence.

Zeus seemed less worried, although he agreed upon keeping the relation secret for the while, but in a sober way he presented me with the alternatives there were.  
- Leave the chair, Peacock! You will become my queen instead, no less powerful, no less respected. And you can still push your own agendas.  
- But Zeus, I want my own position, not depending on you! What if you…

- You're worried that I will fall from grace?  
- No, not really, no one else can do your job. No one else has what it takes, even if I know some out there who like to believe it. But I – I got elected, even if it was in a strange way. I don't want it to look like you did pull the strings in that election after all.

- Hera, if I "pull strings", if I hire someone for a position it's because I respect and believe in the person I place there. People trust my judgement, isn't that good enough for you?  
- I was hired by the Nexus, not by you. And you are the one who push the idea with balance of power, Zeus. Has always been. It would look strange if you broke that golden rule in this case.  
- You're right. I'll think it over.

- But not to long, honey.  
- I promise! Come here!

He had given me a skilful massage in my neck and down my shoulders with his strong, sensitive hands, resolved knots of tension I didn't even know I had, and somehow this dilemma had felt easier, less worrisome. I knew Zeus would be coming up with something given time. He always did. That was why he was the Divine King after all, he had the solutions, he had the ideas, always well thought over and reasonable, but still sounding brave and breathtaking when presented to an auditorium.

- Pleasant enough for you, my clandestine lover, he whispered in my ear when I moaned with joy at his squeezes of my shoulders.  
- Sure!  
- Than lay down, I'll give your back a complete job.

I did as he told and was rewarded with more of the kind. Zeus buttoned up my dress and treated me like the queen he wanted me to become. It had been sensual in a way different than sex, fulfilling and calming and I had almost fallen asleep, drifting away on pink little clouds of pleasure.

Zeus never bothered with those clichés about how beautiful I was and how much he loved me, he took it for granted that I already knew this. Instead, while resting his cheek by my neck, he could say things like:  
- Right now, but a million light-years away from here there might be a star exploding, killing its whole star system, terminating all the people living there, finishing their history, their civilisation, their arts, their gods. Nothing will be left of them but cinder and ashes. Not even a memory.  
- That's terribly sad, beloved. May it never happen to us.

- It will, in billions of years to come. Our sun will die too. But then all of us will be gone since long.  
- Even us? The immortals?  
- Only time will tell, Heralove, only time will tell. Then Zeus laughed and tickled me, stating:  
-But right now I don't care. I have this lovely lady who I want to play around with. I laughed back and kissed him, delighting in our passion kept in secrecy.

o-o-o

The next day I was brutally yanked back to reality. One of my New Dawners was in trouble, her position in the Nexus under threat from a competing god in her province, and then another grave danger was heading for Ekarantanni.


	35. Hurricane

**Hurricane**

- Oh, come on, Hera, said Neyta. That look on your face, I mean, you are radiant! You look even happier than when the final vote was done on Opening Ceremony day. So who is he?  
- There's no "he" I lied, blushing. I had no idea that I was so transparent. What to say now?? But I got saved - not by the bell but by Scadé who entered the New Dawn office with her red curls ruffled from flying, Maia coming in after her with new pens and notebooks.

- It's really windy out there, Scadé said. And I mean windy. Not like just another winter storm, but almost like the storms back home in Valhall when we have to get everything inside and bolt the doors. And trees get uprooted and even stuff like cars and smaller structures get taken by the wind.  
- Really, I said. Scadé was not the weather-chit-chat person. And as a confirmation the large glass window suddenly creaked beneath the force of a strengthening in the wind. I looked outside. Scadé had been right, the wind was really strong. I could see how it bent the empty flagpoles on the top of the semi-circular Electricity Company Building.

- Not really usual Ekarantanni weather. But let's get down to business. Now, Scadé, tell us more about that deity who's challenging you for the Hyperpantheon seat!  
- Name's Loke and it seems that while I've been down here in Capital City he's been plotting the laws of gravity out of the Valhall Pantheon. And, as gossip goes, he has befriended Odin like you wouldn't believe... And now he wants my seat in the Hyp. He has already started campaigning against me. Held a rally last week, Urdah told me, and beheaded a peacock and drank the blood.

- Sick! Neyta and I said in choir.  
- That's how they do it back home. It's his way of telling the crowds that he can beat me. I find it sick too, to be honest. But back home they'd probably said that I've softened up by being down south.  
- So what's his party? Neyta asked.  
- Radical.  
- Gee... Setting fire on a pile of roses isn't half as spectacular, sister. We'll have to think of something else.

The next moment we heard a tremendous crash of breaking glass from the next room.  
- The storm! I gasped. Now it's getting way out weird!  
- Everybody's saying that these days. "Way out weird", Scadé pointed out. Who started it?  
- I haven't the slightest idea, I said. I think I've got it from Zeus, but I'm not sure. Neyta?  
- Me neither. Heard it the first time at the end of last year. I don't remember who said it first. But you're right, it might have been a Zeus-ism.

It was even windier in the late afternoon when I met with Zeus on the top of the office building, and I commented on that.  
- It's not a normal storm, you're right about that, beloved. But it's not an un-normal one either, if I might use that expression. I remember something similar, when was it? Athena was one... 8 years ago, that is.  
- But there was a window that went in the HQ today.  
- Hera, haven't I told you that you shouldn't throw things out of closed windows? They break, Zeus said. I just rolled my eyes.

o-o-o

I woke up to the voice of Zeus. He had left the bedroom and was out in the main suite, talking to someone, and he sounded sort of aggravated.  
- That's not going to happen, he was saying. I'll take care of it.  
- But it's a... A hurricane. And it's coming here. Astraios' voice.  
- I'll take care of it, I said.

I rose. I could feel a kind of tension in the air, almost like excitement. This wasn't a normal storm, I had been right all the time. The energies felt different. Zeus came back in and started to dress.  
- Eagle, what's going on?  
- It's a hurricane coming in. Asty got a warning, it's heading right for 'Tanni.  
- So what are we going to do? Emergency situation? Have people lock themselves inside?

- Asty has already warned the authorities, he did that before waking me. I'm going to try to stop it. It might be devastating if it reaches the city.  
- Can you do such a thing?  
- I've never tried before, but there is a good chance that I'll be able to do it.  
- Be careful, Zeus!  
- It's just a storm. It can't harm me. But it'll vandalise my city if it reaches it, and I'm not going to let that happen. Go back to sleep, Peacock.

But I couldn't. As soon as Zeus had left I started to dress too and then I followed him. I found him up on the roof of the main building, in front of the dome, facing south-east. I looked out towards the sea. And where there was supposed to be the first hints of dawn was a huge blackness that was hiding the stars. It was from there that strange feeling came. And it was that - thing - my beloved was going to stop.

Zeus didn't sense me, he was focusing on the incoming hurricane, sitting lotus with eyes closed, hands resting in his lap and the wind tearing at his long hair. His aura was sparkling with such a fierce energy that even a mortal must have been able to see it. I held on to a pillar, watching him. I couldn't take my eyes of him, although the wind made my eyes tear. I don't know how much time passed by while I watched my love battling the elements. It was not like the Chronos fight. Not at all. This was different. This was done on another level.

After what must have been at least an hour I felt a shifting in the air. The wind was still terrible, and the horizon looked unchanged. But there was something different. Like - a shortage of power. Zeus was still sparkling, still hyperfocused. The change became more and more prominent while the sky became clearer. Then, suddenly, the wind began to die down. The clouds over the sea started to disintegrate, and the light of dawn beginning to come through.

Then - before I knew it - the wind was gone and the sky was clear. The sun was hanging halfway over the horizon, painting a bright red road over the sea. Zeus remained focused for about half an hour more, before he relaxed, rested his head in his hands and then laid back on the roof.

_Peacock_, he mindspoke. _You curious little girl - come on over here!_ I obeyed, went over and sat down beside my beloved, took his head and let it rest in the softness of my lap instead, caressing him gently upon his sweaty forehead. Zeus has these exceptional eye-brows, quite a bit darker than his hair, thick and sharp like strokes of an Asian calligraphy-brush. Now I was following their outlines with two fingers.  
- It's gone now? I asked.  
- It's gone all right. But that was terrible. I hope it'll take years until the next one is due.  
- But you can control the weather, beloved?

- Yes, but it's not a walk in the park, to say the least. That storm out there contained so much energy that I had to diverse. I could not have absorbed it all, I'd gone out before it was over. I had to redirect it elsewhere. And that's not easy. You have to know what to do with all this energy so you don't break something else. Tampering with the weather is not a simple deed. There's so much you have to take in mind. So much that can go wrong. Everything is intermingled you see. Gathering some clouds and starting a thunderstorm - that's no big deal, takes a couple of minutes. Redirecting or stopping bad weather is a bit harder. Battling larger weather systems, like hurricanes, tornadoes, front zones and the likes takes a lot of strength and concentration.

- But you did it.  
- I had to.  
- I love you.

o-o-o

Stopping the hurricane gave Zeus a lot of "bonus points" in peoples records, and thus he could get the Hyperpantheon to agree on a lot of his ideas. That's why we did not get a strengthening in the funding for quantum-physical research but on the other hand the Union was going to finance a bridge over the Eyatry sound and a highway and train tunnel through the Zennatra mountains. Hard stuff as usual with my Eagle.

But it was after all "crazy season" and a lot of strange things were being debated. Everything from polygamy to sending people to the moon. And some of the things sounded even crazier than the stuff Athena could come up with during the dinners at Olympos.

- Dad, can't trains be run by electricity instead of steam?  
- Titi, where would we get that electricity from?  
- Wires.  
- Where? In the tracks? People and animal would step on them and get hurt or killed.  
- But wires in the air, Athena insisted. Zeus was smiling:  
- So we would hang wires over all the railroad tracks there is in the whole Union Railway System? Do you know how much railroad there is? How many kilometres?

- Think about it, Astraios was saying. I mean, not for the whole URS, that would be too much. But this subway thing everybody is talking about, if we could run these trains by electricity instead of steam it could actually be possible to realise.  
- I admit, this is "crazy season", Zeus said. But here I sit with a nine year old daughter telling me how trains should be run. And the protector of Thessalia getting hyper creative.  
- I think it's a good idea, Eos was saying.  
- I'm not saying it's a bad idea, just slightly unrealistic.

o-o-o

There was one thing I couldn't push forward anymore. Winter Month was coming to an end and I couldn't and didn't want to keep my relationship with Zeus secret anymore. There must be a way for the Chair Lady of the Nexus to be together with the Divine King. I was not going to end up in a situation where I had to chose between Zeus and the Office.

- I'm going to tell certain New Dawners, I told Zeus later that night. Astraios, Eos, Poseidon and Oreynadan were still talking trains and the rest were off to other businesses or pleassures. We can't keep this secret anymore. Soon someone's going to find out. The journalists would have a ball with that news, imagine the slander! Iapetos' nymphs would appear as nothing in comparation. And everyone else would be convinced that the democracy concept had been totally screwed and the rule of the realms had been relocated to a certain bed-chamber.  
- You're right. Whom are you telling?  
- Freya, Ra, Neyta... Trustworthy people all of them.

- Neyta? Then it will be on the front side of The Ekarantanni Times before we know it.  
- Come on, she knows when to shut up. I know certain things about her that she don't want on the front side of Times by the way.  
- Like what?  
- Private stuff.  
- Well I'm not going to snoop. Tell your comrades, Peacock! Tell them also this: Then Zeus told me his plan. And it was brilliant in all its simplicity.


	36. Going Home

**Going home**

- Guess I'm out of my wits completely... I smiled and bit on my right index finger.  
- Come on! Neyta urged.  
- ...but it's Zeus...

I guess I had expected a lot of comments here but everyone – including Neyta – became totally muted.

After a while Scadé of all people was the one to break the silence.  
- You mean the Zeus? - Is there anyone else with that name? Neyta scorned. - Yeah, it's him all right, I answered. And here came the babbling.

- Are you out of your.  
- Chaos, girlie.  
- I though he was with... - No, Amaterasu's been dumped.  
- ...Aethra.  
- Hera, you're in deep trouble here. Not just politically. I'd back out with the speed of light if I was you.

I looked at Freya who had spoken the last sentence. That's why I like this girl so much. She had already left gossip-status and given the political implications a thought. - Why should she? Because you want him?  
- Oh, shut up, Ra! Freya snarled. Of course the elected Chair Lady of the Nexus can't have an affair with the leader of the Olympos. The Divine King!  
- Who says? Ra insisted.

- I'm not going to repeat the basic class about shared leadership, I said. Just that Freya is right about how it might look with the two of us being lovers. But there is a way around it. - You're not going to leave the Chair? Freya sounded worried.  
- You're not going to leave Zeus? Neyta was also a bit pale. I mean, I have never seen you so happy. And I've known you for - what is it... 12 years?

- I'm leaving neither. Now this is how it's going to work: I'll need a lot of help from you, Scadé. You have a way of talking to people that makes you sound like - well not dumb, but "The girl from the Savage North", who don't know that much about civilisation. I want to use that trait of yours. In return - done right and with care it's going to mean securing your seat in the Hyperpantheon. You all know that the real reason for me sitting in the Chair Lady's office is because the Libertarians and the Radicals screwed the Olympos. And now it's pay-back time. Or that's how it's going to look. Their sad asses are going to get a bit scorched, so they know who they should not be messing with in the future.

- The Radicals were involved? Phoenix asked. - They were, Neyta confirmed. Both Aethra of Raeiadia and Naktraon of Ilaouda. Olympian Iris found out.

o-o-o

It took the lion's share of Snow Month to set our plot in action. We needed the time to make sure that people like troublemaker Eris, newbie Tyche, copycat Aestarion and idealistic Paladin would be acting the way they were supposed to act. Then the trap was set for the Radicals and the Libertarians.

Spring Month starts with the all-Nexus Constitution debate, one of the few that take place with both assemblys present. As usual the Radicals called for a change, claiming that the Chair Lady or Chair Lord should be elected in a General Election instead of being appointed by the Nexus. Usually these suggestions ended up in the trash bin without even being debated. With two assemblies employed by General Elections most delegates were content with the Nexus appointing both the immortal Chair Lord and the mortal Speaker of House.

But this time Tyche of Antiocheia asked to speak in the matter. She looked a bit nervous, the new delegate, tucking back her black curls while entering the podium. In spite of that her voice rang loud and clear when she started to speak:  
- I second the Radical suggestion.

Most people hadn't started to pay attention, but they surely did when Tyche went on: - This might be the only way to avoid rigged elections. This year the election of a new Chair Lord got sabotaged by an anti-Olympos wing in the Nexus. - Anti-Olympos?  
- Who's anti-Olympos? These questions were heard echoing through the Great Hall. People was staring with accusation in their looks at each other while Tyche went on:

- They rigged the whole process by having Libertarian Notus of Xaliricon backing out and turning their votes over to the New Dawn head Hera of Argos instead. Sure, they could have backed Hera from start, but then they'd lost the element of surprise, as well as the Liberal votes. The Lib's would never have backed a Radical first hand choice if they'd got the chance to discuss it among themselves first. And Conservative Aestarion of Crete lost because of that.

I watched with excitement as Eris entered the platform. Was this going to work now? Zeus was waiting beneath the spectators balcony, leaning on a marble pillar, sceptre in hand and what seemed like nothing more than an idle, semi-interested look upon his face.  
- So who's the one you're accusing of being anti-Olympos? the Libertarian asked. My party? Wrong! Our candidate backed out because of personal reasons. The radicals on the other hand! Go after them, Tyche of Antiocheia! They started this request for a second vote, when most delegates were already regarding Aestarion of Crete the winner. They set up the Olympos, not we. We Libertarians have never been...

That's a lie! Aethra of Raeiadia was standing up by her seat!  
- You bastard of a Titan bitch! Aestarion of Crete had also risen, pointing at the Radical Raeidian.  
- Order! Order in hall! The Vice Speaker Ira Shui was banging her gravel against the desk. No-one speaks outside of protocol!  
- Screw the protocol, mortal! Aethra rose her voice. We have not been plotting against the Olympos in the Radical party. All this is a lie! Eris, you are...

- I am the one by the platform, Eris' voice was ice-cold. And when certain delegates can't even follow protocol, how are we suppose to believe their sincerity about not messing with other Nexus proceedings? I repeat: the Libertarian candidate backed out for personal reasons. The rest of what Eris was saying became drowned in a buzz of voices, while accusations were flowing across the hall. I started to clench my fists. Eris was not saying what we were expecting. Or was she, but no-one could heard her? - Order in hall! Ira Shui tried, to no avail.

The next moment another Radical rose, went up to the podium and simply pushed away Eris from the platform. Naktraon of Ilaouda. Bulky and tall, he resembled more a war-god than a politician. - Get off our backs! he was growling from the platform. The Radicals isn't anti-Olympos. Look instead who gained the most out of this so called "set-up"! I could feel his gray eyes resting on me a while before he went on: The New Dawn party! Their Hera of Argos is the Chair Lady now. And she has been working against the Olympos almost since she got elected. The New Dawn's agenda is based upon forging new nations into the Union. Nations with different cultural heritage like Aigyptos and Valhalla. If someone's anti-Olympos, it's the New Dawners.

That was it! The Radical had spoken Eris' line. And Zeus's cue. - I do not agree with Naktraon of Ilaouda about the New Dawners being anti-Olympos, the Divine King started after entering the platform. Naktraon is right, we've got new nations, different nations in the Union during the last three years. But the Union is not a closed club for provinces around the Central Ocean, just because it was here the concept started. Instead, one of the points with the Union-idea is to keep it expanding, to make it stronger, more diverse. Aigyptos and Valhall might be different, but the differences between the various corners of the world should be seen as fresh injections into the Union.

- Politically, he went on, Chair Lady Hera and I don't agree upon a lot. But that has not stopped me from appreciating this marvellous woman who is the elected Chair Lady of the Nexus. In fact we fell in love during these long days of debating this session.

Zeus turned to me:  
- Come on up here, beloved! This might be a strange way of telling this, but whatever disagreements we're having, this is my Lady! I left my seat and went up to Zeus, who put his arm around me and kissed me on the forehead before going on:  
- So if someone in this gathering got the brilliant idea of setting me up for something, it turned out into a blind-date. And actually I don't mind that at all. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's strange. I can stop hurricanes from ravaging the coasts of Thessalia, but I can't stop Nexus delegates from tripping over themselves when they get tied up in the snares of their own plots.

I held on to Zeus while listening to the talks that started in the various corners, and then merged into a new noise. And not unexpectedly some were screaming for me to leave the Chair, others urging me to stay and some people were shouting entirely different things. A group of mortals seemed content with chanting Zeus's name. Ira Shui turned to the Divine King:  
- Help me, great Zeus! They don't listen to me! Especially not your kind. They have started a completely new protocol!

Zeus went over to the gong and hit it once with his sceptre. Then he faced the auditorium:  
- Anyone's got anything to say - do it up here, not down there! Aethra, if you've changed your mind and want Hera out, come on up here and tell us why!

But the Radical did not obey. She remained standing in the now silent hall. She was staring across the room at the Conservative Aestarion, who was staring back, aura red with rage. Instead my former lover Kandrios of all people spoke up:  
- Resign, Hera! he was saying. If you're going Olympic you're not eligible to stay in the Chair Lady's Office.

Then the Sun Guild party head Paladin asked to speak in the matter. He made a big thing out of following protocol and walked with long, striding steps across the aisle and up to the platform. There he gazed at the auditorium a moment, before speaking. - I don't believe I'm hearing this! How many times haven't Chair Lady Hera voted against the Olympos in matters? Or pro? She is not sitting in anybody's lap. Especially not in the Olympos one. No-one should ask her to resign from her office for being in love. This is not how we do things in the Union Nexus. Hera stays! That's my final word. People were screaming "aye" from several corners in the hall.

Then Freya was up there:  
- The whole New Dawn party is behind our leader. She's staying. What she's doing is New Dawn politics, not Olympic errands! Anyone should be able to see that!

Xenon of Thessalia-Ekarantanni: - Second former speaker. The Liberals don't support Kandrios of Elesios in this matter. We also want Hera to stay. The Union Nexus needs her. And on top of that: a second Chair Lord election in as many years might appear demoralising on the Nexus.

Aestarion of Crete:  
- As a conservative I seldom support the progressive New Dawn politics, but I lost a weird yet fair election this summer. Chair Lady Hera shall remind in office. If she has to resign, then we should all hand in our resignations, because it would mean that we have failed as delegates and as gods. Failed to do what's best for the Union and instead engaged in playground fights.

Then Mnemosyne of West Arcadia had to swallow her pride and say that because her party had supported me once they were still supporting me. The only ones still wanting me to leave were the Radicals. They saw my Olympic connection as a threat to an independent Nexus. And supporting them were some other delegates who had been against me as a Chair Lady from the start. But the battle was over. Because a battle was what it had been, just like back in the war. Not with swords and rifles, but with words. But no less violent.

I almost did a double-take when I heard parts of a discussion among some mortals who apparently had swallowed the plot completely. It was Sharola Iyakar asking Areliouris Keedaes:  
- So why did the Radicals and the Libertarians put the Divine King's lover in the Nexus' Chair office?

- Probably because they expected some services in return from great Zeus, Areliouris Keedaes said. And when it turned out that Chair Lady Hera, in spite of being Olympian in all but the name, didn't serv great Zeus everything he wanted on a plate, the Olympos walked out of the deal. That's probably what we saw happening here today.  
- But they said.  
- What the immortals of the Nexus say and what they really mean is usually two different things. You'll learn that in time my young friend.

Some lesser debates came and went but most of us were sitting down now, feeling the shift of balance in the energies of the Great Hall, and a lot of us were already plotting and planning for new alliances. One of these was Aestarion. He mindspoke me: _We can be useful for each other. Let's sit down later. I have some ideas._ Way out weird, I thought.

o-o-o

- Correct me if I'm wrong, Zeus, Scadé was saying. But to me you made it look like the Radicals and Libertarians screwed up the Nexus by making Hera, the lover of the Divine King, Chair Lady. Like the very parties who had been talking about decreasing the power of the Olympos all the time actually increased it. - That's the whole point, Zeus answered. Welcome to the Union Nexus! And don't forget to use the Radical Naktraon's attack on your province while going after his party comrade Loke! Now what kind of deity is that really? Hera told me he'd been up to some way out weird things.

We were a large and diverse group who had gathered in the Chair Lady's office. I had quickly arranged some kind of reception out of this spontaneous gathering, and jugs of wine and trays of finger food were being carried around through the rooms. Iris was sitting together with Argus on top of her desk. He was going over today's happenings in the Great Hall. It had already been shaped up a bit. And Vice Speaker Ira Shui was talking with Xenon of Thessalia-Ekarantanni. I saw Protheus speaking to Leto and Aestarion flirting with Freya. And there was Scadé explaining the antics of this Loke to a group of surprised listeners.

Behind me I could hear Amaterasu saying:  
- It was Hera! You owe me 500 credits, Sori.

I turned around. The Nipponese met my looks and smiled.  
- It was so obvious, Hera, she said. I don't really think there were that many people being surprised when Zeus told about the two of you.  
- I admit I was, said Sorawe. I thought he was going back to Ami. Or further on to someone else. I guess I believed in that friendship thing.  
- Sori, we're still friends, I assured the Thanigran. Only in a slightly different way. The difference is not as big as I thought it would be.  
- So what's different then? asked Amaterasu. Except for the sex thing, that is?

- For one thing we're being more honest with ourselves as well as with each other now, I told my colleagues. I can be honest with myself about being so jealous of you, Ami, that I felt shame. - Because I was with Zeus?  
- Yes, and because of Sakura. And I have also been jealous of Elli and of Leto and other women earlier, always standing in front of my mirror denying that it was the case. - Honesty starts in front of the mirror, Sorawe said and sipped on her wine, that sounds like a good rule in life.

- You bitch! I thought you were my friend. Electra was in tears as she came striding over the floor, pushing herself through the crowd in a very un-Electra way. - Elli? I turned to look at the Trojan. - And you took him away from me, the only man I have ever loved. - I did not. It was over long before I.  
- No, it was not. He loved you all the time. Don't touch me! Don't. Ever. Touch. Me. Hera!  
- I'm sorry. I took back the hand I had tried to place on Elli's shoulder.

- No, you're not. Now go to Zeus and have fun with him! Until he tires of you that is. He does that with women. I watched the Trojan leave, head held high, but every inch of her aura spoke of tears held back. And I was sad too. I had lost a dear friend. (I was going to win her back years later, but that's another story.)

Hours later I was standing in front of the window, looking out at the river Airetis and the half-finished Moon Crescent Bridge. The lights of the city were glittering in the dark water. Neon, street-lamps, car-lights and boat lanterns. The rainbow-coloured ferris wheel on the opposite shore spinning slowly. I felt both tiredness and content. The plan has worked and the 17:th session of the Nexus was coming to an end. In four weeks time it would be New Year. And for the first time it really felt like a chance at a new start for Hera too.

Zeus came up from behind, putting down his cup of wine on the window-sill and embraced me. - You look tired, my love.  
- True. But also pleased. I was a bit scared down there. What sounded so easy first soon became complicated. As always with people. - But now its all out there. No secrets anymore.

- One more, I said. I'm pregnant.  
- You... Zeus let go of me and reached for his wine. I met his blue eyes:  
- Yes. Decided to "egg" you this morning. Because if everything else should have failed, I would at least have some good news for you. - "Egg" me! Have to love your expressions, Peacock.

- How about your "way out weird" then? Everybody keeps saying that now - from Mimi to the United Democrats head Areliouris Keedaes.  
- I'm innocent, Zeus smiled. Athena started that one. So is the egg a boy or a girl?

- Ain't no egg anymore, Eagle. It's an embryo. But I can't tell gender at this early state. If you can't wait to find out we'll have to ask Demeter. - Then, let's go home, Hera! Zeus held out his hand and I took it. This time there was no doubt about where "home" was. I was finally going home.

_

* * *

__So this finishes "The memoirs of Hera". This feels like a nice place to stop and skipping all that not-so-happily ever after. Hope you enjoyed your read._

_And thanks to all of you who have supported me with reviews and mails, you have kept me going when I've felt like tropping the project. Perhaps I'll be back some day with another story, but now I'm just going to sit back and enjoy what others have written._


End file.
